Aretha was he Queen. RIP, Girl.
Best in Heaven Mrs Aretha.
i lost my dad just a few months ago.
and i keep saying the weather lady from channel 6 or 8
down here should cover you. does she have soul like you!
Aretha Franklin, the Queen Soul, was a musical icon. With her gospel twist on her music she made women feel strong, empowered, and indomitable. On August 16th, at 76 years old, this legend passed away and left behind her legacy for generation after generation to see and hear. Aretha Franklin sang songs that had a deeper meaning than what others may have thought; she showed women that they didn’t have to be what society told them they had to be, that they did not have to be dependent upon a man, and that they had a right to fight for their freedom and equality despite the odds fighting against them. Franklin has let her musical influence spread from multiple artists including: Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and even Alicia Keys, as they have taken notes from the style of her music and have expanded upon it. Although I am only 16, Aretha Franklin has made a great impact in my life in how I should feel as a woman, and how empowered I should feel because I am a woman.
2
She sang with an extraordinary level of feeling that is missing in commercialized music today. Her voice was the embodiment of soul and raw emotions. On stage she brought us together with a professionalism and dignity matched by few other performers.
2
Aretha was a star, a gift, a good woman who sang from her soul to become the Queen of Soul. "Chain of Fools" is my favorite Aretha song; not necessarily her most moving but so rhythmic and fun. It is hard to believe Aretha is gone, and now up there with Michael, Leonard, John, George, Elvis, and so many others.
Rest in Peace, Aretha.
2
It might seem a bit odd for a grizzled, 68-year-old grandfather to unabashedly belt out "You Made Me Feel...Like a Natural Woman." But I don't care. I can't help myself. RIP, Your Highness...
14
Paul, love your comment.
5
And, she died on the same date as Elvis: August 16th.
2
The authors comment that Aretha may have needed better song writers struck me as little off key. It would be nice to have nonstop hits all your career, but is that really possible?
Who is responsible for getting material to the 'artist'? I think it is the artist who is responsible. I do not think the authors know how she obtained materials? As far as I remember, she was always in demand and hitting concerts. Tastes change and for a singer to be on the hit parade for more than 10 years is truly exceptional. Nope, that is second guessing someones career.
5
I love you, Aretha. Thank you, and rest in peace, Queen of Soul.
5
Lovely tribute here from Jon Pareles.
As well as her many achievements noted here, Aretha was a gifted songwriter. Two worthy of note, among many, are 1968's "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" and "Who's Zoomin' Who", nearly 20 years later from 1985.The latter was used as the theme for "Wrestlemania III".
Fortunately for us, she had varied and very accomplished career.
3
There is a rose in Spanish Harlem.
6
Aretha brought so much truth and beauty into my world.
8
Stephen Colbert ran the footage of Aretha Franklin paying tribute to Carol King, who wrote "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" during the Kennedy Center Honors he hosted in 2015. Very moving. The link is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dO1kGAXBO0
6
Aretha Franklin was a true icon of the music industry. Unfortunately, I was not present to witness her strive to fame and succes, however her impactful voice and story live on. This article interests me because of how much Aretha Franklin has inspired, including myself. She will forever be a musical sensation.
3
Aretha was "An American Treasure" She may not walk amoung us anymore but with her Music she will always be with us.
I would love to see young artists today, continue what Aretha built.
2
If only President Obama were still in office to give Aretha the national tribute she deserves.
I can't imagine the present administration acknowledging her achievements, nor would I trust its sentiments were it to attempt doing so.
6
Thanks for your comments about Aretha. I was thinking about her link to President Obama and what he would have said and done. I did see that the current president mentioned that she had worked for him. Enough said
5
President Obama released a touching tribute to Ms. Franklin, capturing the essence of her extraordinary talent and shared humanity:
"America has no royalty. But we do have a chance to earn something more enduring. Born in Memphis and raised in Detroit, Aretha Franklin grew up performing gospel songs in her father’s congregation. For more than six decades since, every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine. Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.
Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. Michelle and I send our prayers and warmest sympathies to her family and all those moved by her song."
7
Funny, when you see (or hear) real talent you know it instantly. Aretha, Streisand, Callas. When I was a teen back in the 70's I attended a Linda Ronstadt concert and her voice was so strong and clear. I think what helped these women achieve what they achieved was their own confidence in their own God-given gifts. Be nice if every child coming up had that confidence. I just hope there is a Heaven and Aretha is once again singing with George Michael and Whitney and Marvin Gaye. A chorus of angels with chops!
3
Being from Detroit I heard about Aretha Franklin all the time even though I was not around when she won her first 16 Grammy or song at the funeral of Dr. Matin Luther King Jr. I still never knew how accomplished she was until she died. It amazes me that she was the first female singer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1987. She also song at the inauguration of Barack Obama, pre-inauguration of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and at the funeral of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For being a black woman she broke down all racial and female barriers. She is a role model for many little girls these days. It amazes me that she was the top of the 2010 Rolling Stone "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" Her accomplishments will inspire many people to great things.
5
Fun fact about Aretha, I have heard she always took her purse on stage with her because she was afraid it would get stolen. Check Google images, you will often see it perched next to her or behind her while she's performing.
RIP Aretha.
4
Even though I was not alive to witness many of Aretha Franklin's groundbreaking successes I am very happy to know that I was able to enjoy her music while she was living and performing. As a 16 year old boy, it may seem a little out there (especially in today's society) that a young man would be able to respond to an icon like Aretha Franklin. I believe that she is a true diva in the sense that she knew what she wanted and accepted nothing less and that she carried herself with a sense of regality and elegance. The main thing that I really admired about Aretha Franklin was not only her strong and impactful voice and messages but her strong and impactful spirit. I think especially today, that the word "Icon" has been used so loosely and frequently that it seems to have lost its true meaning. However, Aretha Franklin is surely a music and pop culture Icon as well as an icon for female empowerment. I definitely believe that she sets an amazing example of being a strong independent female who worked hard and, thus, experienced immense success. I know her legacy will live on, but I hope her legacy is reintroduced into the lives of the younger generations ( and my generation) because there is a lot to take away from not only her music but her life and her story. Aretha Franklin is an amazing role-model (whether she planned to be or not) for many girls and young women of color and I hope that her success story and her spirit lives on in the hearts of many for the years to come.
37
@Jackson Desmond You are wise beyond your years,...... and your taste in music is beyond compare!
5
ARETHA FRANKLIN Got her classical chops during her studies at the Jiulliard School of Music in New York City. Her voice, spirit, lyrics and melodies form a part of American culture, of which she formed a part until recently. She is a woman of great valor and achievement who will be missed--irrepressible and irreplaceable.
4
As a Detroiter, Aretha's voice was part of the musical fabric of my college years and beyond. Although I loved her soul recordings, her gospel performances reach to the heavens. I have an extensive collection of her recordings which I plan to listen to and cry because she is gone.
4
I was introduced to Aretha's voice in 1968. It changed my perception of what a woman's conquest of her talents, her thoughts and her soul meant. She always made me feel strong. When my heart was broken, or life seemed impossible as I grew older, I would play her songs. I still do. She was an incandescent light in our world and always exuded warmth, dignity, grace and hope. The Heavens received a very special Angel today. Rest in Peace with all of our love and thanks.
4
Her stunning version of "The Makings of You" alone (from the Curtis Mayfield 1994 tribute album) makes her the greatest of all singers.
5
She was actually scheduled to perform at the Hollywood Bowl, just around now I think, and I had intended to get tickets to go see her.
But alas - it wasn't meant to be.
She was always a presence in our home, as in many, but I think that one of my favorites is an obscure advertisement jingle She and Ray Charles did for Coke - part of the "Things Go Better With..." done in 1968.
And in my opinion, things can't get any better than they do with Aretha.
Rest in peace and music your majesty.
4
AM radio played the hits by everyone in the 60's and I can remember hearing that voice as a kid in Wyoming when stations would come in late at night from distant places.
Worth waiting up for the undisputed, undefeated Queen of Soul.
7
I'm still trying to absorb this. Aretha was not simply a huge talent, but, moreover, was so tied to my youth. Whatever illusory notion that I've convinced myself that my youth has persisted, died with Aretha today. I cannot remember a moment when hearing her sing didn't take me to a place of sheer bliss– the moments that as adults are so rare, but, as children come so naturally. Tonight, in a restaurant in Camden, Maine, I asked that her music be played. The restaurant complied and in consequence, the entire restaurant became a dance floor. Everyone shared in what was so clearly what Aretha meant to us all. Suddenly, everything became beautiful and we were all kids again. Simply: Extraordinary.
36
As I ponder the loss of the Queen of Soul, Ms. Aretha Franklin, I am struck by my age and the divide in time between her generation of musical artist and today. Hers was truly an uplifting voice and message. One of positivity, passion, and life. Her voice is a message that is still creating that warm fuzzy cascade of emotions that we all get out of bed for.
Of course she had the original "times up" message with her timeless classic R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The new generation of artists - and I use that term lightly - do not seem to have taken Ms. Franklin's advice. These are not just cliché observations. As a music lover, it is hard to express the damage the loss of gifted uplifting musical artistry has caused our culture.
5
Beloved woman who spread joy everywhere she performed, with her gorgeous unreplaceable voice of power and beauty unmatched. It came straight from her heart, and her actual soul. I miss you already, but your spirit is still here, and will always be.
1
Working from home yesterday morning, I was able to watch the tributes to Aretha and clips of her performances on CNN and FOX News. I found myself in tears since Aretha has always been my best-loved singer and I have all of her albums. I was in 9th grade at a Montreal high school when her first soul hits swept the charts in 1967. Yesterday afternoon, I received an email from my dearest high school friend who now lives in northern British Columbia. He was reminiscing about Aretha and he even remembered 51 years later that "Chain of Fools" was my favorite song. Aretha is now at home in heaven with her Savior and family and friends who have passed before her. What a blessing her life and her talent has been to America and the world. R.I.P.
8
I remember vividly, once during my outing in a music store in India, I found Aretha Franklin's CD a collection of her songs, in a heap with others selling for cheap. With my limited knowledge of western music, I knew she was in a class of her own but didn't know about her class of music. However my subconscious mind didn't allow me to skip and I bought it. I played the CD in my personal player without any apprehension and bam I remember returning back from work in my less crowded company bus while her songs started rolling and I was being carried by her voice, flying amidst the branches and leaves of the trees lining the road. Later I tried taking the same risk with other artist albums but I am yet to feel that impact. RIP soulful lady.
17
Godspeed to Aretha Franklin. Her glorious voice and her adamant voice on important political issues . We will not see her like again. Sing with the angels.
3
I remember the day Ella Fitzgerald died. I went out to the front yard, picked up the NY Times and saw the grainy picture of Ella on the front page with the news of her passing. I made a guttural sigh, an involuntary reflex, a communal loss at the news. But now, Aretha's passing, there are not enough sighs, not enough communal grief to express the loss. Her artistry is unparalleled. She will never have a peer. A voice that sang the human condition with each note.
4
The first album I ever bought for myself was "Aretha's Gold" in 1969. All of her early hits. Still have it. She was the greatest.
2
The Queen died from neuroendocrine cancer that originated in the pancreas. A very different disease than pancreatic cancer. Like Steve Jobs, she survived for almost a decade after the initial diagnosis and operation to remove the tumor(s). Pancreatic cancer is lethal and fast, neuroendocrine cancer will eventually kill you, but it will usually take years... I know, I've been living and fighting it for four years.
RIP Aretha.
5
any musician will tell you that she was the greatest singer in the world when she was young and serious about her music, bar none. an era has ended.
2
What a wonderful video, thanks NYT for this obituary!
I have to admit that I had already forgotten that she sung at Obama's inauguration.
It makes obituaries like this all the more important and powerful, especially in times like these.
There you have Obama sitting and listening to "Respect", clearly taking in the graveness and historic significance of what was happening to America now that THIS had become possible. At the same time, you see his strength and determination, based on eternal moral values combined with competence, youthful enthusiasm and idealism.
In many regards, Aretha Franklin was THE perfect person to sing at his inauguration.
FINALLY, America was reaffirming fundamental values such as respect, truthfulness, equal opportunity, and the life forces of fierce compassion and deep love.
Listening to Aretha Franklin for the first time since November 2016, I feel it all come back again.
THIS is the blood that is running through America's veins from the very beginning, and that is responsible for its greatness: all the brave men and women of all colors of skin, religions, national background and gender coming together day after day, in order to work hard for truth, passion, innovation, equality, freedom.
Fox News has misled 35% of the American people to make them believe that it did NOT happen, that Obama nor anybody else ever stood for truth, and that compassion is weakness.
Listen to ONE Aretha song, however, and you just FEEL how wrong they are ...
2
Not a fan, the music never connected with me but she seemed to hold herself with much more class and control than those who followed.
Undoubtedly and forever, The Queen of Soul. Thank you Ms. Franklin for being a part of my life's sound track.
3
I feel the passage of my era now, more than ever before. Aretha was and always will be the wind beneath our wings. A white girl born in '48, I sang to her records and pretended, and it was heaven on earth to me. Whatever comes, only a handful of humans can mean so much. Love you forever, Aretha.
3
I grew up in the 60s with Aretha's music. I was listening to her music last night on my way home from work. Between outright sobbing and singing along with the song, her voice let me soar! RIP great lady. Your music taught me to respect myself and to always think. You will always be the undisputed Queen of Soul!!!
4
Love you Aretha, forever. Will miss you.
3
Aretha was magnificent. I have been listening to her singing, on radio and TV tributes, and weeping. I love and remember that moment at the Kennedy Center honors for Carole King, when she stood up from the piano bench, enshrined in her full length mink, then shrugged the mink onto the floor, belting out "Natural Woman." I jumped up from the sofa, that was 2015, and clapped, enthralled. President Obama wiped away tears, and Carole King was beside herself, touched by Aretha's performance. Another time, she had the talent to fill in for Luciano Pavarotti when he fell ill, and there, too, her stunning opera performance "wrecked the house."
Go with God, Aretha. You brought us moments of Heaven on Earth.
3
I tried to take heart to her advice with my boyfriend back in the day - R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
No other like her, ever. And never will be either.
1
If You Should Lose Me by Aretha Louise Franklin
And We Lost A Good Thing, Let's Celebrate Her Life.A Finer Vocalist Did Not Exist.
VIVA ARETHA!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gey4pxYV9qw
1
Aretha is really beyond description - the soul of this country.
2
My brothers and I were Navy brats, living off base in Oxnard, Calif. My father was a pilot, and we were students in a racially mixed high school. As we were heading home from the base PX, my mother at the wheel, the radio kicked into "Respect." My brother, Pete, and I started juking all over the place, totally into the beauty of the R&B that provided counterpoint (and material, for covers) to the British invasion. We were in a gleeful, joyous space ... until my mother angrily reached down and turned off the radio. The woman who had counseled us that black Americans were every bit as good as white Americans ("but I wouldn't want you to marry one") then spat out the words that sear my heart to this day. "Turn off that jigaboo music!" For the first time, she showed her true heart, contrasted with her efforts to show us a path to acceptance and tolerance. I am ashamed of her tainted soul, but proud that she provided guidance that she somehow, somewhere had inferred was best for us, even thought (as of that day) it was clear she didn't believe it herself. Tragic and sad.
1
Aretha was an unsung hero who rose above the pervasive racism that continues to permeate our country.
In spite of oppression, and discrimination, she triumphed with her courage, and extraordinary vision.
she would have made a fabulous SERENA in Gershwin's Porgy
and Bess!!
She didn't need no swagger, cause she knew who she was and that was a 100% class act.
2
I never thought of myself as an Aretha Franklin fan. It just seemed like she was always there like a force of nature. Now it’s like a hole has been blown in our culture. She was not just a singer, she was a genre of music unto herself.
3
she would have made a spectacular SERENA in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess!!!
“Sam Cooke had a huge influence on me. He left the gospel field at one point and went into the secular, and he had this huge hit, ‘You Send Me.’ Irma, my older sister and I heard ‘You Send Me’ on the radio while we were driving through the South on night. We had to stop the car. We got out and danced around the car out on the highway.” - Aretha
Ms Franklin thank you so much for all the dances, those sweet memories and the R.E.S.P.E.C.T
God Bless You
2
Aretha Franklin exemplified the supreme element of syncopation in music like none other. The glorious expanse of her voice, majestic as Kilimanjaro draped in shifting, amorphous cloud coverings, enacts a purity of Shringara Rasa, the Mother of All Sentiments, covering the spark of creation and eroticism at once, in stunningly fluid fashion. The songs, "Who's Zoomin' Who" and "Freeway of Love", together with the first three tracks on her "Jump to It" album, remain pinnacles of The Art of Music.
There is a little more R.E.S.P.E.C.T. in heaven today, and a lot less here on Earth.
I grew up with Aretha in my house. Her voice sounded like a relative I loved and missed. Whenever I hear her voice I see my mom singing along to her being comforted by her, knowing she wasn't alone in her trials and tribulations. My mother a single working woman raised me and my sister on Aretha's music and a small teachers salary. The pain, the hurt f carrying a broken heart and the empowered feminist point of view fit my mother and our household perfectly. Later in life my mother suffered from Alzheimers and in an effort to invoke her memory we played her Arethas music and on occasion it helped another gift from the Queen of Soul. I will always attach my memories of my mother to Arethas songs, it was after all the soundtrack to her life. We love you Aretha please say hello to my mom in the great beyond she was your biggest fan and let her know how much we miss her.
21
You left out her Blues Brothers cameo. That’s how many “post baby -boom” white guys like myself became fans.
1
If you’ve never seen that 2015 moment at the Kennedy Center with Aretha, Carole King, and our beloved President Obama, you must!
2
From the bottom of my heart, from me and all of us you touched so deeply, white, black, brown, yellow, old, young--THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU Safe travels, Aretha.
2
With the passing of this immortal of music I was just watching her performance at the December 2015 Kennedy Center that made then President Barack Obama tear up.
Oh, but to have Aretha back; not to mention the decent, caring, and intelligent human that Barack Obama was as president, rather the disaster we have now who is more akin to a mob boss or a dictator.
1
Isn't it a blessing that Jon Pareles, a true maven of Aretha's music and career, is in the NYT newsroom to write this beautiful obit?
2
I feel like I've lost my big sister.....
I can't tell you the number of bridal showers and "girls' night out" events I attended through the years when we were belting out "Respect" at the top of our lungs. If you were angry at your man, you played Aretha. If you were happy with him, you played Whitney. Aretha's rawness in her music will never be duplicated. I felt her pain and she felt mine, yet I always felt better after listening to hers. And the fact that she wasn't a perfect person made her all the more endearing. I will miss my "big sister" terribly.
1
Back in the 1970's when attending the Apollo performances the main "live" act followed a full length movie.
It was then that after a Bruce Lee movie of Kung Fu jumps kicks and pushes to those bad guys ,with a little pause for a comedians spiel, out came the wonderful Aretha Franklin the featured performance in a packed house splendid in Ermine wrap ,singing for us when not one person could sit down as we were dancing in the seats and aisle.
2
Rest in the arms of our dear Saviour, sweet Queen. We will hear your voice again in heaven.
1
She had a voice. What I liked about her was that she put everything into her singing. There was no holding back and, while I never saw her in concert, it came through on the radio quite clearly.
3
I have seldom heard such perfect musicianship, in popular music, in classical music. She had great craft and of course she had soul, but beyond that, she had an unfailing musical understanding. Who else could have pulled off "Nessun Dorma," a song in the wrong style and the wrong vocal range? And yet she made it hers.
Truly, one of the greats. We are blessed to have had her.
7
I was lucky enough to see Aretha Franklin in concert years ago in New Orleans at Jazz Fest. She was scheduled on Sunday about 5:00 pm. We got to the fair grounds as soon as they opened in the morning to stake out a good spot on the grass. It was a hot and muggy day and it looked like it could start raining any minute. I kept thinking "God just wouldn't rain on the Queen of Soul". And then, she came out in stage. She had bright blue silky palazzo pants and a turquoise tank top. After her first song, she said she had been on a diet recently - it was "Slim Fast and young men". She said "the Slim Fast wasn't so great but the brothers were bringing it on home". And of course the crowd went wild. Seeing Aretha in concert was a dream come true. I love you Aretha. Thank you for bringing such joy to my life.
66
It was second block, research class, when I got the notification of her passing, and I was hit with the thought, "That can't be!" Aretha Franklin was a powerhouse, and she leaves behind a legacy unparalleled to others. How many artists can say they won 18 Grammy Awards? That they placed 100 songs in the Billboard charts? That they influenced many younger artists pursuing a similar path? That was the FIRST female to be inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Not many.
However, Aretha Franklin was so much more than the awards and accolades she earned throughout her career. She was a source of motivation, warmth, and power to those who listened to her music. There was just something about how she sang that make people feel exactly what she wants them to feel. "Respect?" I feel nothing but self-empowerment and pride when I belt along to her voice over the stereo. "Natural Woman?" I suddenly become in touch with my femininity as I hum along.
Although her passing brings sorrow, her music continues to uplift the millions who love her and her voice. Thank you, Aretha Franklin, and may you rest in peace.
8
That lady could sing! Besides "Respect," she wrote "Rock Steady," which former US President Obama always had to start a party with, and all the other classic songs in her catalog.
RIP, Queen of Soul.
12
I'm white (oh how I wish I didn't have to start that way, but that's a relevant fact). I "came of age," as they say, in the 1960s. The high school I attended in Texas finally got around to desegregating in 1964. As a HS soph in 1964, I finally encountered African-American teammates on our football team. And they taught me -- and my other teammates -- a LOT, including "soul music"; it's the absolute truth: we ate it up! And they became some of my best friends. Today, retired and living in the rural Shenandoah Valley, I went out to mow; had my noise-cancelling headphones on tuned to my "Sixties Channel" on Pandora. Lot of Beach Boys, Beatles, etc. Just about finished, and on came -- not making this up, it was just random -- "R-E-S-P-E-C-T . . . !" I braked, throttled back, and sang at the top of my lungs. I was 50 years younger.
19
Thankfully we have recordings of this wonderful voice and soul. Imagine the loss if we did not.
8
All alone on the top floor of the tower of song.
25
Besides mountains of talent,
Ms. Franklin never used the Michael Jordan excuse:
White folks by singles and albums too.
She remained committed to social justice throughout her life.
They don't make recording artists and entertainers like that (much) any more (yeah we see you JayZ and Lady Bee).
Thanks for the beautiful noise and good heart.
12
@MauiYankee : Michael Jordan?
@T.B. - I agree with MauiYankee, if I'm reading their words correctly: Ms. Franklin never appeared to compromise her core social beliefs in the name of commerce. Michael Jordan has blown through hundreds of chances to advance all forms of social justice, beginning with sweatshop manufacturing. He makes it all about the money every time, despite his earned prestige, potential influence, and stature.
1
I remember listening to the first album of hers I ever did have of hers on Columbia records . One side was Pretty much Broadway & the other side gospel. I am a Catholic, was in the choir, I was totally blown away. It was gospel like I had never heard before. I was used to Vienna Boys Choir or my mothers hometown choir in Rgensburg. It was as if I was in a great Basilica, he voice,her soul ,her being pouring out to God. I cried ,cranked it up to fill me. I have been blessed to know of her,truly blessed by her faith as shared in her voice. I cried when I heard of her passing. I cannot wait to hear her sing after my passing. Praise the Lord. I miss you.
11
Her strength came from sharing her vulnerability with all of us - no one needs to ask for respect unless they've been disrespected. Thank you, Aretha. Rest in peace -
7
When you bought a 45 for a hit tune, there was usually musical drivel on the flip side. I remember that when I purchased "Respect," I discovered that it came with "Dr. Feelgood" on the other side. With "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved You)," I got "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man." It was clear to a 15-year-old that the singular talent of Aretha could do justice to most any song.
17
I'm an old white guy. I cannot remember when ms Franklin was not a part of the music scene. Soul, pop, whatever. Instantly recognizable with barely a word heard. I remember this is what used to happen when people got old. Their icons, heroes, the background of their lives, the touchstones disappear. I don't like it.
29
Rest in Peace, Miss Aretha Franklin. How amazing it has been having your legendary voice as the soundtrack to our lives. What a gift you have given the world.
10
Having Aretha's singing interrupted by a white man's voice explaining her music to us in the video is disappointing at this sad moment. Let her sing for herself as we remember her.
9
@Anne Sherwood Pundyk White man? How about anyone, of any color, not interrupt? :)
2
Similar thought crossed my mind, but then I realized all those wonderful clips are probably available on youtube or elsewhere in their full glory. Turn it up!
1
Gospel roots, family friends & leaders, talent, Civil rights, women’s rights, peace on earth, soul, R&B, Jazz, classical, songbook, skill, diligence. What couldn’t she do? She was a class act & a lovely lady. Thank you Miss Aretha.
9
Most every older lesbian, like me, could tell you how “Natural Woman” poured healing and delight into our souls, back when
when “unnatural” was a common label pasted on us. Of necessity my young lover and I kept our relationship clandestine. Otherwise we both would have most certainly lost our jobs. “Natural Woman” was a way we could celebrate our gratitude for one another.
21
Rest in peace dear Aretha. You touched my soul in ways no other musician has ever. Your music was beyond inspiring, it was life changing. I will never forget your interview with Diane Sawyer where you taught her to be a background singer.. with the emphasis on background! I know the angels are dancing tonight. You will always have my total "respect".
18
I knew an accomplished musician who was a member of Blood, Sweat & Tears, the SNL Band (early years), toured with the best from all genres, from Sinatra to Ms. Franklin.
He told me several years ago, that In his entire career, working with Aretha Franklin in studio and on tour was essentially another level.
Treated with respect and while on tour, every performance was a sheer surprise, because she made damn sure “everyone in the band/ensemble had a chance to shine, because they were “family”
However, the issue with her there was no pre-arrangement, one got blindsided with the spotlight opportunity, which to quote “was the coolest thing because it kept all of us at our best and ready to step up to the moment” and make the whole performance “magical”
RIP,
Queen of the Soul of Music,
18
Although there are a number of comments here about Aretha’s role in the civil rights movement— and that important history is being covered in other outlets — why isn’t it mentioned in this obituary?
I hope that essential information will be added here, and in print tomorrow.
6
We’re gonna miss you Aretha. Helluva band in Rock n Roll Heaven.
Bless your Soul.
8
The awe of pure talent, the voice of heaven, the angels cry.
5
There could only be one Aretha.
She was there at the birth of modern soul and delivered it to us as if she owned it. Such power, emotion and grace - her talent redefined our understanding of what a human voice could do, and how it could move us.
Thank you for sharing your incredible gift with us, Aretha. We will miss you!
6
I found Aretha in 1975 when I was 14. Over 40+ years she has sung me through the darkness and the light of human experience, from first love to liberation to the deep pain of betrayal and loss. Thank goodness for her recordings, I can't walk this world without her.
9
For all her songs about disappointment, we never were.
Our heartache and longing, lifted and forgotten.
And this, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, felt, understood, the only match for a profound sense of sorrow today.
With all that comfort and joy she gave, surely there is a special angel greeting the Queen of Soul.
4
My favorite scene in the Blues Brothers was Aretha. What a voice!
15
I always loved and respected Aretha Franklin. Her talent is indisputable. She truly embodies soul and grace. Listen to a version of Leonard Bernstein's 'Somewhere', that was produced by Quincy Jones. Absolute genius.
4
So many of you have written such touching, beautiful comments before mine. Very moving. But here is mine, nevertheless. I grew up in Detroit, 1950's, early 60's. I remember my older sister driving me around in the summer in our Dad's convertible, top down, her friends in the car, me, little sister, back seat, listening to Aretha's songs. And dancing in the living room. What a pure talent she had, a gift to all. RIP, may your next journey be deserving of you.
14
Hey Interested9 I’ll bet they had that radio tuned to CKLW.
1
Hey George, thanks for the blast from the past! It just could have been CKLW.
1
Hey George, CKLW, wow a blast from the past. I'd forgotten. Thanks. New Zealand - how do you know of CKLW?
1
Aretha Franklin will always be a legend. Now more than ever almost everybody will be hearing her very meaningful songs on the radio or popping up on YouTube. She will be missed more now that she is no longer with us.
Even though I was not around when her songs were being released, I appreciated them when I heard them. One of the popular songs were “Respect”; also my favorite. Her song that that she rerecorded from Otis Redding’s version was a song that talked about house wives. She made a statement through this song saying to respect women for what they do all day like staying home to wash the dishes, wash the laundry, and make dinner after completing all the backbreaking work of cleaning the house every single day. Most of the women especially liked the song for its meaning besides the fact that it was a very catchy song. Whoever listened to this song understood that women should get respect. It helped me to hear that someone stood up for what most people need to understand.
As I do more research on Aretha Franklin I realize how much Aretha Franklin means to others. She made people feel happy when they needed it including me. Whenever I was not feeling so happy I would put on “Respect” and it would immediately happy.
It hurt when I heard that one of R&B’s best artist/Queen of Soul passed away. One of many people’s favorite artist in R&B history left an amazing gift behind… her music, her voice, and her inspiration for many other women.
8
Aretha Franklin was a woman to be reckoned with. She was a one of a kind person with a special voice. She inspired other woman singers to express themselves in their music. She had to branch away from her home life to make her dreams come true. Her life was not easy, but she put all her emotions in her music. However,even though she had her spotlight moments, she never really got true credit she deserved. She opened way from the female signers after her. She worked hards to make music for people, even when she was struggling in her life. She was the voice for the people who couldn't speak to the world like her. Aretha was the shiny light in the rainstorm.
5
One of her classic recordings: "Say a Little Prayer"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtBbyglq37E
May her memory endure as a blessing to all who were captured lovingly into her net.
19
It makes me sad to see another amazing artist passing on. We've lost some talented musicians and actors in recent years. It seems so many great, empowering, uniting voices are disappearing. And those voices are being replaced by so much hate and fear in our current political moment.
Aretha Franklin had more business being President than Donald Trump.
13
What a beautiful tribute, even all the grand photos of Aretha. Her life was a model to so many women despite the many tribulations she herself suffered. That one word, and song, RESPECT gave courage to continue trying, even as she lived that dream herself. Today I was thinking that we will never know or understand the effect that independent, strong woman had on all of us. Rest in peace, Aretha. We love you.
12
I remember seeing Aretha Franklin perform "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" in tribute to Carole King at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015. After almost 50 year's since its debut, you never would've known! It was so authentic and beautiful, she brought President Obama to tears. A true American treasure, may she rest in peace.
25
And the joy from Carole king, an icon herself. TWO "natural women."
3
Resilient
Empowering
Savvy
Professional
Elegant
Creative
Torchbearer
After hearing the news of Aretha Franklin’s passing, one song that came to mind is her rendition of “The Weight”, which in retrospect she possibly had a personal connection for many reasons.
5
One of the people who made me regret having been born too late. To Aretha Franklin,
forever, and ever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
...
for me there is no one
but you.
4
Aretha was incomparable. When she sang, whatever she sang, she was, as they say, God with skin.
6
There I was, a 10-year old Irish kid, listening to the radio in 1968 and Aretha Franklin suddenly jolts me out of my chair singing Sweet Sweet Baby (Since You’ve Been Gone). “There’s something that I JUST gotta say!” Omigod. I’d never heard anything like it. She introduced me to Soul and has been commanding my attention ever since, all through her amazing career. So sad at her passing, so grateful for her music.
21
1969, just days out of high school, cruising Virginia Beach’s Atlantic Ave with 4 or 5 other kids crammed into a candy apple red Mustang, a fake ID in my pocket to get into the Peppermint Beach Club, Aretha booming “Chain of Fools” over the speakers and out the rolled down windows into the sticky night. I felt so cool to be in that car and rocking my little white heart out while Aretha made that car jump. She rocked our whole lives. Woo, woo!
10
You could easily make the case that she was the greatest of all time .. And I wouldn't argue with you
12
Greatness and divine, thanks be to Aretha Franklin
4
God I loved her...and respected her too.
4
Aretha Franklin's appeal was universal. Whether you grew up in the ghetto or a lily-white wealthy suburb; whether you listened to Gospel or Motown or Rock or Classical; whether you heard her in church, or on TV, or in "The Blues Brothers", when Aretha sang, you listened -- and you loved every second of it. She took you into her world, and you never completely came back. When someone as well-known as Aretha leaves us, we often say "what a terrible loss", but in her case we say "what a wonderful gift she gave us". She will always be with us.
13
Aretha passed away on the anniversary of Elvis' death in 1977.
What a duet they must be making at the Pearly Gates!
10
@Terry Robert Johnson's death date too, as fate would have it......!? Truly a day "the music died".
2
Thank you Aretha
You will never cease to inspire future songbirds
1
In the middle of my career I was a sound technician ...
Boston some time in the 80's : put a big sound system in the Boston Garden for a Tribute Night to Bill Russell. Aretha was to sing the opening National Anthem. Mid afternoon sound check: Ms. Franklin shows up with the pianist/keyboardist Richard Tee. She's wearing a "day coat", scarf covering a head full of curlers, and pink slippers. She's nice as can be figuring out the mechanics of where she will stand and so forth. I hand her the mic, we make a few technical adjustments, and then without a hint of hesitation she launches into our national song; soaring as only she could, but only for a few lines. Then she and Mr. Tee started having some fun as musicians will do, and she starts in on a sort of gospel version of Bye Bye Blackbird, then Singing in the Rain straight up.
Boy oh boy ! Such a great memory, and such an unparalleled natural talent. She deserved all the successes she had in this world. Every last one.
158
@Fred Mueller- thats a fabulous story..not only hearing her belt out some songs on the fly! Lucky you
3
So saddened by Ms. Franklin's death. I have been listening to her version of My Way. Download it and turn it up loud. RIP Queen Aretha. There is no one like you. Not even close.
3
What a voice, what a piano player but perhaps even more what character as a human being and civil rights champion.
I saw her perform about 30 years ago and she blew the lid off the arena. Stunning talent. Perhaps the most beautiful voice we have ever listened to.
Her music will endure forever.
RIP our Queen. Peace........
7
I’m guessing a lot of white folks are saying goodbye to Aretha today. Because, really, soul knows no color. And if you’ve got it, you know it. And ArethA had it in abundance
9
Regarding typo to my comment on Aretha Franklin who died in Detroit, MI. I meant no disrespect to Henry Ford!
2
I grew up listening to Respect on the radio.
What a set of vocal cords!
Nobody could belt out a tune like Sister Aretha!
RIP!
4
The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen.
4
The Queen is dead! Long live her music...
8
RIP to the Queen of Soul. What a set of pipes!
4
Aretha's last-minute rendition of "Nessun Dorma" at the Grammys. Yes.
14
The divine Ms. Franklin was and will remain embedded nation's soul.
I just watched the video at the Kennedy Center Honors, when Aretha sang "Natural Woman" for the crowd, the honorees, and President and Mrs. Obama.
We came so close to getting it right.
But this morning, the twisted, grotesque racist in the White House tweeted his "condolences" the morning after calling an African-American woman a "dog."
This is more than "one nation, under god, with liberty and justice for all," should take from the vile imposter in The People's House.
7
Corrected text.
The divine Ms. Franklin was and will remain embedded in our nation's soul.
I just watched the video at the Kennedy Center Honors, when Aretha sang "Natural Woman" for the crowd, the honorees, and President and Mrs. Obama.
We came so close to getting it right.
But this morning, the twisted, grotesque racist in the White House tweeted his "condolences" the morning after calling an African-American woman a "dog."
This is more than "one nation, under god, with liberty and justice for all," should take from the vile imposter in The People's House.
16
What a voice, what a life!
8
Oh, freedom!
9
God sent. To God returned.
21
I say a little prayer for you.
13
No Micheal Jackson.
Couldn't dance a lick!
3
Long live the Queen of Soul!
6
Correction to my post: "sixty years later" should be "fifty years later."
2
This is the end of an era. Aretha sang like an angel and played the piano like nobody's business. There isn't and won't be another like her. At least the recorded music lives on.
I wonder where the homegoing will take place and who will sing.
8
Rest In Power, Queen of Soul.
Your music will live on and carry us through the times forever.
4
Never another like her. (BTW, nice video from NYT, but got wrong video ID'd - she is singing Freeway of Love, not Think, in video shown. Guessing producer/editor too young to know her classics...
2
Wondering if choirs of angels will learn to blush when she arrives? Rest..
7
Ain’t no way.
10
Detroit mourns our Queen, God bless her
13
Sad emoticon.
2
Our Queen, the black goddess, diva of all divas, didn't just sing RESPECT, she demanded it. Her soul, her songs, took us chain of fools on the freeway of love, and that thrill will never ever be gone.
6
A black woman singing 'respect' and 'think'. How timely that is.
14
This is an excellent obituary. But Rev Franklin, Aretha's father and the famous preacher, was wounded in the groin and knee when he was shot during the 1978 hime invasion, not the head. One of the bullets severed an artery, which stopped blood flow to the brain.
3
God, she was the BEST! EVER!
7
She was a legend and made her career with a God given voice that was internationally acclaimed! I hope younger generations listen and study her music and realize that she had a real craft/art compared to the pre packaged, sugar coated, shake your booty nonsense that's played and performed today!
3
Finally, the Queen of Soul is with the One who made her soul.
She must be joyful now in heavens as she made millions joyful on earth.
Thank God Stevie Wonder is with us.
6
I grew a little white girl in West Virginia. I have loved Aretha most of my life, and I never fail to want to get up and dance, to cry, to love when I hear her sing. She is so much our souls - all our souls. She makes people like the current reigning monsters in DC look sick. She IS AMERICA to us. SHE IS OUR SOUL, not those horrid people in Washington right now.
15
The death of Aretha Franklin touches me in a very personal way.
When I was a little girl my dad used to ask me to stand by the piano and listen as he played and sang (in a songwriter's voice) his latest creation.
"Sure you haven't got the wrong number?
Sure it's me you wanna talk to tonight?
Everyone in town's got your number
Everybody's got you pegged right.
Is that why you got in touch with me?
I guess you must be
"Run-in' out of Fools!"
This was the opening verse of the best lyric my dad ever wrote. I was five and I knew then it was terrific. A few weeks later he walked into the house with a demo( 45 record with typed label)
He invited me to hear it. I was absolutely stunned. I had never heard a voice like that. The lyric was delivered with so much finesse and pizazz, That moment will live forever in my mind.
I asked my dad who the singer was.
"You probably have not heard of her, she is Patty Franklin's little sister. Her name is Aretha."
I had never heard a name like that, either.
This was a year before she catapulted into a song called "Respect" which if one listens carefully to that lyric she sings at the end "You must be Runnin' Out Of Fools and I ain't lyin...."
To this day I listen to that song while riding my bike, Each time it comes on I smile. How lucky am I to have a memory that elicits the talent of my dad and the excellence of Aretha at the same moment?
Rest in Peace Ms. Franklin. Always. You, too dad.
30
All of my life I've debated amongst friends and family, whose the greatest quarterback of all time, whose the greatest first baseman, team, president, actor, guitarist, striker, keeper... endless back and forth, endless discussion. But one thing that no one I know has ever debated, ever - is who is the greatest soul singer the world has ever known.
Aretha's was the voice of Divinity. And we've all been blessed.
12
on top of everything else the she has done, she would have made a marvelous SERENA inGershwin's Porgy and Bess !!
2
The work she did right down the street in Muscle Shoals is masterful-- some of the finest music ever put to tape. In FAME Studios, the Queen of Soul was surrounded by a posse of Southern white boys and a genius Jewish record executive/producer. Together they brought the world some magic and resurrected the career of someone we now consider amongst the greatest that ever lived.
Thank goodness they did.
4
A sweet little tribute. A cartoon for the Queen:
http://isitjustme.com/aretha-franklin/
4
A huge talent. Brilliant song writer.
However her voice had this nasal quality which stopped her being the greatest singer.
Listen to her next to Mr perfect pitch himself Pavarotti in that short duet and you will hear its sharpish tonality.
2
I find it so sad and ironic that Aretha Franklin died only 2 months after her Blues Brother's movie husband Matt "Guitar" Murphy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/obituaries/matt-murphy-master-of-blue...
Let's boogie.
5
I saw Aretha shortly after the legendary Live at The Fillmore concert. I was right up against the stage, almost at arm's length from her when she was not at the piano. It was a mind blowing performance, even better than the Fillmore show.
At the end of the last encore, just as Aretha was moving to leave the stage, a girl next to me reached up and grabbed the fur that was wrapped around Aretha's neck. Aretha had the white fur tied in a half-knot around her neck, and when the girl pulled it, it tightened. Aretha started to fall, head first, in a dive five feet down toward the concrete floor. I looked up at her face, only a few feet from mine, and saw absolute fear in her eyes. It was shocking!
Suddenly, Aretha's knees buckled and she fell hard on her knees on the stage. Right in front of me, she grabbed the fur with both hands and had to forcibly yank it from the girl's hands. Aretha's high heels had fallen off in her collapse, and she struggled to her feet and ran off stage, limping from her hurt knees.
I saw that fear of death in Aretha's eyes. It will never leave me. She dramatically cut back on her touring after that, though she gave concerts now and then.
4
August 16, 2018
America became one united soul with the gift of Aretha Franklin and her love for America and the world.
jja
8
My teen-aged sisters and I: 3 stuffy little Pappagallo pink-clad prigs of the 1980s. Discovering, agreeing on (that was huge) and blasting at full volume, Aretha's Gold. Part of the catalyst that improved us. XO wherever you are.....
3
What a loss. I am seventy, and I never stopped listening to Aretha. She was not "Aretha Franklin." She was simply "Aretha." Minutes ago, I again watched her 2015 appearance at the Kennedy Center in honor of Carole King. She came out in that long fur coat, sat down at the piano, and launched into "A Natural Woman." The camera shifted from a thrilled King to Obama wiping a tear from one eye, then back to King as she blew kisses to the stage. Needed a tissue after that.
7
@JLD
What a great performance that was. I thought people might fall out of their 'skyboxes.' And I wouldn't have blamed them. We watched and re-watched that piece in our living room, utterly blown away and totally thrilled, and I kept it on the DVR until just recently (should have left it there).
1
How lucky are we in Detroit that Aretha decided to stay home among family, friends and fans that love her. What a blessing her unrivaled voice was and is the music of my life. Our collective hearts are breaking.
Rest in peace Queen
Love always
24
I was fortunate to have seen Aretha up close and personal at an inaugural ball for President Bill Clintons second term. She generously sang a substantial set and as soon as she open her mouth and this voice and this power and this spirit came out...well, it was like a force of nature. I wiggles my way up to the front and basked in the wonderfulness that was Aretha.
And when she sang Natural Woman or Respect and every woman in the room sang along , together and as one. Old and young, stylish and dowdy, all skin tones and a myriad of accents. She led us is these feminist anthems. We all knew every syllable, every beat, every pause - well then I truly understood how powerful is Sisterhood Thank you Aretha I will miss your sass, your strength and your voice.
13
@Julia
Thank you so much for sharing that. It must have been truly amazing.
2
on top of everything else she has done, she would have made a marvelous SERENA in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess!!
2
Aretha Franklin was my favorite female vocalist and stylist of all time. Her music, from her landmark debut album, to her Amazing Grace collaboration with the Rev. James Cleveland, up to her her recent music, including her memorable duets with Frank Sinatra, George Benson and George Michael, was the soundtrack of my life.
The memorable television performances--my favorite being her performance of Rock Steady on Soul Train--along with her concerts were an experience. The highlights for me were her singing at President Obama's first inauguration and the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Carole King. Ms. King's reaction, along with President Obama's tears, said it all. Incredibly, Aretha could take songs by Otis Redding, Ben E. King and the Beatles and make them her own, often making one forget who the original artists were.
Rest in Paradise, Lady Soul! Although you are no longer with us physically, you will always live on through your music. My sincerest condolences to her family.
3
Ms. Franklin has joined her beloved friend Sam Cooke, the "King of Soul" in Rock and Roll Heaven. We salute Ms. Franklin, the talent Rolling Stone magazine dubbed the greatest voice in rock and roll history. She will be missed but never forgotten. Some say Ms. Franklin as a very young woman had an inappropriate romantic relationship with Mr. Cooke. One documentary reported a brief afternoon tryst in a hotel room between the two of them. It was reported that Mr. Cooke and Ms. Franklin had to escape the domineering paternal presence of Ms. Franklin's father, the legendary minister and civil rights activist, the Rev. C.L. Franklin. Whatever transpired between the two of them, we should forgive them and allow them to rest in peace in that special corner of heaven and enjoy the gift of music they left us.
1
Amazing voice, amazing woman. An icon, a soul about whom no one can say an unkind word. What a role model. Truly "a natural woman." God bless her soul. Listen to some of her music today and pass it on to your children.
1
Rest in peace Ms. Franklin. I'm sure your hits were in the Top Ten in heaven. You'll be missed by a public who loved you and what you stood for.
1
Respect to Ms. Franklin and her loved ones. She was a gift to our world. I'll always remember my good fortune to hear her sing at Radio City Music Hall in the early '90s. Chills and blessings!
3
She was all I needed to get over and get going. My natural high. When Aretha sang, she got hold of me and I couldn't shake it loose, that is the spirit of Soul.
2
Not too much I can add to all of the wonderful comments here, but I’ll give it my best shot:
“Until You Come Back To Me”....written by Stevie Wonder, made into a hit by Aretha’s recording, and to me, still one of the most absolutely gorgeous, heartfelt, and beautiful songs - both lyrically and melodically - ever recorded.
Thank you, Aretha. You will be missed...
6
Be of good cheer.
Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul,
has only left the stage,
to take her rightful place
in the pantheon.
I'm sad, but still I smile, listening.
4
The day she sang My Country ‘Tis of Thee at Barack Obama’s inauguration was my birthday. As I watched this monumental event, tears poured down my face. I was never more proud to be an American. So sad to see what’s become of this country in just a few years.
What an incredible inspiration she was to so many. My heart breaks, for the loss of the wonderful voice we heard sing that day. Heaven’s choir welcomed a new angel today.
8
Oh, I was struck breathless when I found out about Aretha. The world lost a beautiful artist today.
As a white girl growing up in rural Maine in the 1970’s, I didn’t have a lot of exposure to music. My Goodwill finds, which included Aretha and Marvin Gaye, were met with quizzical eyes. So it wasn’t until I was 29 and in the nation's capitol that I became reacquainted with her genius.
Aretha was the first woman whose music I could relate to - the sister of my soul. She was, in a word, “complicated” - one of the strongest, most naked, capable and vulnerable artists whose work I’ve had the pleasure of sensing.
Even as she belted out “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” - an anthem for the Age of Feminism and the Civil Rights Movement - her work was deeply personal and affecting. Aretha told the story of our struggles and triumphs - as women, people of color, and as beautifully flawed human beings.
She also sang about intimate and universally painful truths. She shared with us her heartbreak and disappointment, her self-loathing, longing, triumphs and defeat.
There was no one more naked or as passionately expressive in the language of anguish, joy and beauty. She illuminated the intimate depths of despair, emptiness and loneliness - and shared her self-pity, regret and distractions of drink and men.
And oh, did we listen.
9
Growing up in Michigan I was proud of Motown putting Detroit back on the map after John Ford's automobile.
Aretha Franklin was a founder of that Motown evolving into Soul Music. Her conviction singing "Respect" imbued a spot in my heart that comes bouncing right out when I need to feel it. She died sooner than I had hoped. But, her music is recorded living oneard with us all. Godspeed Fine Lady! Thank you.
2
Above all, I appreciate Ms. Franklin's humanity. Her voice and musicianship would not have been what they were without her deep humanity. I feel so blessed to have lived during her era. She is unarguably one of the greatest Americans, period.
4
We had tried to see Aretha sing many times but she always cancelled her concerts.
We noticed that she was to perform at the Fox Theater in Detroit, so thinking that she would not cancel in her hometown we bought plane tickets, booked a hotel and grabbed great seats for the concert.
Yes! She showed up and gave the performance of a lifetime. Thrilling!
And as an aside- Detroit is a great weekend destination!
5
As a white girl in a difficult home, "Respect" made a big difference for me. I didn't see any white women around me who were standing up that tall and being so assertive and full of self-worth. I don't even recall hearing that word used in that way before that song.
3
When I grew up in New Jersey, Motown and Aretha literally saved my life. I was fortunate enough to see her twice in my lifetime - at the Fillmore West (with Ray Charles!), where I even waited for her in a stairwell (don't remember how I was able to sneak in) and, after give her a bit of a start, she graciously shook my hand. Of course, what I really wanted to do was throw my arms around her and hug her to pieces, but regrettably I didn't. I saw her many years later at the Oakland Coliseum. There's no one like her and I am very sad.
5
Aretha was a giant of the Sixties, but that was 50 years ago. Do people seriously think she means a lot to young people today? Much less young people twenty years from now.
1
wow. Aretha probably is not ineffable, but capturing her genius evades easy comment. Most of us, recognizing she was special, gush a bit, inelegant, but felt. You get right to your point: an inability to believe in connections or expression across time. impressive
2
@Fred White
I guess you haven’t read all of the comments. A lot of them sing Aretha’s praises, and they are from young people who have listened to her. So yes, she is and will be timeless. Just like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Sam Cooke and Elvis Presley and Cole Porter and the Gershwins and Billy Holliday and Scott Joplin and Chopin and Beethoven and Mozart and Bach. You don’t have to have been contemporaneous with genius to hear it, know it, and love it. That is the great thing about music and art and literature. The gifts live on eternally. All you have to do is open yourself up to experiencing them.
1
My heart aches knowing Aretha is no longer with us. She was a magnificent singer and pianist. And was truly the Queen of all! Thank you for all the beautiful music you left us as we go forward without you, Ms. Franklin.
4
Aren't we fortunate to have been graced with Ms. Franklin's amazing voice? I'm listening to the 20 essential songs and have chills. My deepest condolences to her family. All hail to the Queen and may she rest in peace.
5
l feel lucky to have come of age when Aretha’s hits first became popular. It was a turbulent time for sure but so much more positive than where we are today. Thank you Aretha Franklin for an amazing soundtrack to an amazing time.
2
There are so few singers who's name I can call in a few notes and it doesn't matter what she's singing. I can just say Aretha. R.E.S.P. E. C. T. I was too young to even know the extent of respect Aretha wanted but in 1967 I put my hands on my hips and demanded too.
2
Best female vocalist that ever was.
3
The "Blues Brothers" wouldn't be the Blues Brothers without Aretha. Missed.
3
And when Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley meet in the Great Beyond, the first song they're going to sing together will be, "Peace in the Valley."
3
I heard that she was ill over a year ago and she's been in our nightly prayers since then. Aretha Franklin was blessed by God and she knew it. Anyone who ever heard her sing knew it too.
Aretha Franklin was one of the best MUSICIANS of the 20th century. Some people questioned Aretha being inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but those people don't know anything about rock and roll. Take Black women out of rock and roll and there is no rock and roll. The so-called British invasion knew and that's why they sold Black music with a British accent. Mick Jagger knew that which is why he was in the audience when she recorded her 'Amazing Grace' album. Even a racist like Eric Clapton knew.
My thoughts and prayers are with Aretha's family. Aretha can lay her burden down because I KNOW she is in the arms of the Lord.
14
Rest in peace Aretha. But I must say that I was never a fan of her music. I remember when her first album was issued. I believe it was on Columbia Records. It was a time I was listening to Miles Davis at Birdland who was also on Columbia. When I wanted to hear a female singer, it was either Billie Holiday or Anita O'Day. Rest in peace Aretha.
1
Hard to believe that anyone who loves great music is not a fan of Aretha!
5
What a phenomenal talent--the way she sang, the way she played the piano, the way she carried herself, the way she accepted accolades, the way she represented the music of the USA. Her one movie role was an inspiration! I always hoped she would appear in more movies. And I believe she was co-owner of the Soul Food Cafe in the Blues Brothers!
1
She was a ''Diva'' before they even had a definition of the word.
That was not a bad thing, but rather people that came into her orbit (professionally and personally) were drawn to her grandiose personality, voice and heart. They all came away greater from the experience, as we all did for decades now.
A hole is left in our hearts, psyche and music.
2
We've lost a Goddess.
1
she was one of the musical greats. she's known for soul but she also had an interest in opera:
https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2012/01/03/144624251/areth...
3
Aretha passed away, but she never grew old, never, never, never.
17
It is a shame and erroneous that this article leaves out Aretha's virtuosity on the piano. It should not be understated. There could be a whole article on that alone.
Like Nina Simone, it is often their feminist stances and voices that take center stage (as in this article) but many often fail (in a backhanded patriarchal way) to note their musicianship.
Both were exceptional piano players, revered in, and able to play in, many styles. You don't grow up in a house frequented by Art Tatum and not learn to play piano well!
Aretha even went back later in life and studied classical in order to play with orchestras. Just look at any clip of her playing piano while singing and it's apparent.
19
Aretha invented modern soul and R&B (and gospel) singing. Although her voice declined in the last decade or so, all the other "divas" you here are just pale imitators of her at her best.
2
@LMC sb "hear"
She inspired me in my Jewish choir, a backup singer to our cantor. There will be no other like her. RIP, your majesty.
2
There are some deaths that when you hear of them, you cry. You don't think about it, you don't talk about it. It just hits you, and you cry. This is one of those.
7
An incredible talent who could grab you and drag you into the speaker on a 1960's era transistor radio. She truly was a natural.
2
She was not quite two years older than I. I had no interest in pop music as a teenager, but I listened to her. My father once said she could have been an opera diva...and after thinking about it, I agreed. But I think my favorite vision of Aretha will forever be from "The Blues Brothers". That she would appear in that frumpy waitress outfit and bed slippers and still blow the whole thing down was just incredible, both musically and personally. Thank goodness we have her recorded and taped and memorized...and can keep her forever.
7
I was six years old when I first heard the Queen of Soul. Soul Music was an important part of my life and my identity, and she helped to shape me and my generation. I learned to RESPECT Black Women, to Love Black People, and to Rock Steady and have a good time at parties. I never saw her at the Apollo, I lived about 3 blocks away, because I was too young. But, I do remember the lines, beautiful Black People waiting to see the Queen of Soul at the world famous Apollo in Harlem. It is 50 years later and I still love Aretha Franklin. I wish that all these rap/hip-hop chicks had one ounce of her soul and expressed in their music today. Rest in peace , you shall be missed
2
Hummmm, another angel just joined The Heavenly Choir....
3
GOD BLESS Aretha; You will long be remembered for generations to come for your fearless voice for Dignity and Respect; both of which defined your life. If the so called leaders in America had half your class; the U.S. would be in a much better place today. It is sad to lose all the icons of my youth leave us; but there is no fear Aretha Franklin will ever be forgotten. R.I.P. Sweet Soul!
4
She had the ultimate, high bandwidth connection to creativity; that woman could sing the telephone book. Cheers, Lady Soul!
1
The touch, her touch on your soul, your innerness, cannot be described, only felt. So few have this talent, and hers was unique. Thank you, Queen Aretha, for sharing.
3
A gifted musician with an amazing voice has just been welcomed up in Heaven.
Rest in peace, Queen Aretha.
3
The Muscle Shoals connection of making Aretha Franklin into the “Queen of Soul.” https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=RbA931UxX68
3
@Rufus T. Firefly - It seems the ingredient she needed was Country! HA! This article leaves this whole connection out.
Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn - both "country-ish" song writers wrote "Do Right Man" and "Dark End Of The Street" - she sang both. That band (many country musicians themselves) put her over the top. Afterwards they played with everyone from the Staple Singers to Paul Simon.
1
It was no coincidence that a uniquely powerful voice and spirit, was an African American voice, the voice of America.
She was the queen of our souls.
3
She's the best of America. Period. Rock Heaven out, Ri-Ri.
4
the queen of soul joins the king of rock 41 years to the day.
rest in peace fine lady.
3
Music that entered my bone marrow since before I was born, thanks to my parents. Music that has truly been with me my entire life, in some shape or form.
Just the one word: Aretha. No other explanation needed. Understood the world over.
Rest in Power.
12
There will never be another like her. I know that because there was no one like her before.
2
You cannot prepare for the passing of an icon. She was a lady, and her songs taught me what my experiences did not.
I will mourn, but uplifted by listening to her music.
6
I read the first two comments and it's already been politicized. She was one of the greatest singers ever.
3
Pareles's comment that she could have had an even greater career had she had better material really irks me. What is the point of that comment? It's a symptom of a problem in our culture -- that you're only as big as your last hit. That no one's contribution is enough. If she had never done anything beyond her recording of Respect she would have had a greater impact than most. As it is, she sustained a career over decades.
6
Twenty-four years ago I was nearing the end of a bad marriage and playing music to give me solace. One song in-particular drew me in “You make me feel Like A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin. The lyrics hit home for me. I promised myself that if I was to ever marry again, that was the song I would play at my wedding. Twenty-three years ago I met my husband at Borders Books on Long Island. On our second date we sat in his car with the radio playing in the background, and we had our first kiss. And what a kiss it was. We both felt the electricity. We pulled back, without saying a word, looked at each other and leaned in again, only to experience the same sensation. It felt very much like two souls who had known each other through many lifetimes meeting for the first time in this one!! We never had that feeling again. Playing on the radio in the background was Aretha’s “Natural Woman”! The next day after only meeting 6 days earlier my husband proposed to me. At our wedding I dedicated “You Make me Feel Like A Natural Woman” to him. From that second date with Aretha’s song playing softly in the background, until he passed away in May 2015, we were never apart and he always made me feel like a natural woman! That song will always be magical for me.
25
@Linda Caso
Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote that song. Do not forget their awesome talent when talking about Natural Woman.
How could anyone, hearing Aretha Franklin sing "Amazing Grace," NOT believe in God? How else to explain how we could have been so blessed so briefly with her glorious voice? She was indeed "The Queen of Soul" for she touched the very soul of everyone who was fortunate to hear her. She will now teach the Angels how to sing.
2
I don’t believe in god. Thank you.
on top of everything else she did, she would have made a marvelous SERENA in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess!!
2
I grew up with Aretha and knew then as a young teen that she was something special. I will miss that voice that rang true for us all.
Please rest in peace.
The Queen is dead......
1
I really can't add much to the accolades. But I have always loved her music. "Aretha Arrives" was the first LP I bought when a kid. I was so happy when it came out on CD. I still listen to it. Thank You Aretha for your music.
1
Rest in power, sister well done.
5
Everyone should go to YouTube and find the scene she does in the movie "The Bles Brothers," where she sings "Think." Aretha could act as well as sing, and the scene is a comedic masterpiece.
2
@Barbara
Jake and Elwood and the Queen of Soul
https://youtu.be/Vet6AHmq3_s
Can’t stop crying... Queen Aretha has always had my respect.
2
The country blues performers, jazz musicians, urban blues players, and rock and rollers were all known as men and women of loose morals and criminal proclivities. They were gamblers and drinkers and associated with men and women even worse than them. Some even claimed to have made a pact with the devil. But the soul performers that emerged in the 60s represented themselves as ordinary people, no more sinful than any others you'd find yourself sitting next to in church. Aretha Franklin might have been a diva, and a singer of rare talent, but her performing persona was that of an ordinary woman with all the needs, hurts, and joys of every woman everywhere.
1
I was a black boy raised in a white town. Until we moved, i only had The Association and The Archies. Aretha saved my life!
8
You know I alway thought until today, that the lyrics to
"Chain of fools"
Was 'Chang, Chang, Chang, Chang of fools."
Or when performed live in my Oakland City neighborhood,
"Che, Che, Che, Che, Che THE FOOL."
I thought either Che Guevara or Some person with the name chang, was the subject fool of the song.
I had no idea. Song in a community picnic, with people marching to the chain lyrics, it is cool.
But on the Point of Aretha Franklin, she was a powerhouse. I never saw her performances as about making money.
Her music was ubiquitous in the barracks and fields of South Vietnam during the war.
5
"Hard, cold and cruel is the man who paid too much for what he got".
Ain't No Way - Lady Soul - 1968
Music and Lyric by Carolyn Franklin
- angelic voice on background - Cissy Houston - mother of Whitney
Only one of many soul-shattering recordings by The Queen but this one just has to be called out particularly since, for some unearthly reason, it did not make the Spotify list.
I know that we all have our favorites but this was a masterpiece in every sense of the word.
Aretha's music will live forever.
2
RIP Aretha Franklin whose voice was a magnificent instrument. I'm still angered beyond measure at any male who would impregnate a mere child at 12 and 14. She grew up to be a great lady of whom all of us should great pride.
6
A national treasure.
6
I grew up a little white girl in Detroit in '68. As the tanks rolled down Southfield expressway and white suburbia was freaking out about a march down Fort Street, two things made small dents in the chasms, the Tigers and Aretha. Today, I live in Delaware, and as I'm going about my day, It hit me hard that no one around me now experienced that particular place in time and can share the impact her music had on us.
There was no unity then, as now, except for brave and beautiful people, like Aretha, who will always shine a light of hope. My greatest hope is for the Aretha's to come.
212
Just wanted to add that the first thing I thought after seeing Aretha Franklin’s death was that I’m so so happy that this legendary woman, who sang at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., was able to live long enough to sing at the inauguration of the first Black president, Barak Obama.
It’s just a ray of hope I’m clutching during these deeply disturbing dark times that seem to be a replay of the early to mid-20th Century: the arc of history does indeed bend towards Justice.
22
The greatest! Today, only Aretha Franklin coming out of this stereo.
3
The best. Her music lives on, and has changed many of us for the better.
3
She was a beautiful, wonderful talent whose songs will live forever. I guess that's one reason there is a comment section here for her many admirers (vs none for the puff piece on Madonna, a no talent , non original exhibitionist fraud. One falsehood after another. Like "She made the gap tooth cool? Not even the Wife of Bath can claim originating that).
Aretha was an original original.
1
I hope Aretha's family will be comforted by the fact that so many people (regardless of race or religion) were so deeply moved by her wonderful music. For fifty years, her music has touched my soul
16
She sang “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”
And then “Find Out What It Means To Me”
A remarkable voice
That made us all rejoice
On that I’m sure we can all agree
5
Governor Cuomo recently said “America was never that great.” I beg to differ. One example is the development of our music and especially the abilities of Aretha Franklin to move our spirits and literally bring tears to ones eyes. My son was born in 2002 and later seemed to be on the spectrum of Autism. Boy did I crank up Aretha’s music and sing to this precious little boy. He finally start talking by age 4...seeing Aretha in concert, waiting after the concert to thank her. I love you Mrs Franklin.
7
Aretha will be awesome for all time.
1
She emoted gospel, blues, jazz, opera, and rhythm and blues in her voice.
1
I cry now not for our Queen so much as for myself - selfishly. When our heroes die we are left with the wicked, undisputed truth of our own mortality.
Dear Aretha, I truly hope there is a heaven with a choir that will embrace you and comfort you as you've comforted my soul in all its female adolescent longing. Many of us can say we are Natural Women because of you. Thanks in abundance. Rest in Peace and Harmony Ms. Aretha Franklin - Queen of Soul
Queen of all our souls
5
The Voice; could belt out gospel, blues, R & B; Soul- Scat with the best jazz singers and sing an aria on the side; all before Kings, Queens and commoners.
Her body aged; she did not hid her extra pounds or change looks with face-lifts and "Bowtox." Yet, the voice was ageless. Watching her inject soul into Adele's "Rolling in the deep", is pure magic:
Every Aretha Franklin performance was a master-class in music and it is still amazing to realize she belted out R-E-S-P-E-C-T at the tender age of 25.
So much more can be said- but right now- I have to listen to some more "Retha".
7
When I grew up around Motown, Aretha Franklin's voice was in the air, like sunshine and rain, infusing everything we did. When you reached for the car radio when one of her songs came on, it was never to switch stations, but to turn it up louder. She made every song she ever sang her own. We've lost a strong, kind-hearted woman and a national treasure.
10
I grew up listening to RESPECT in India. Her influence went beyond borders.
7
One quibble: Piece of My Heart was written by Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy.
But no one will ever replace Aretha.
1
There are less than a handful of singers whose death have brought tears to my eyes, and Aretha's one of them. I thought she was great but when I heard the album Spirit in the Dark and listened to all of her contributions I realized she embodied the divine feminine in all respects And when I heard Live at the Grace Cathedral no words would come--just great appreciation.
Thank you Aretha!
David Sugarman
15
I will always love Aretha. Growing up, what struck me the most about her was her strong, graceful, and sassy on-stage presence. She was a classy woman.
When listening to her sing, I was spellbound because her music was filled with emotion and truth (e.g. her signature song "RESPECT"); she and her songs were authentic!
The fact that she is part of my iPod music collection means that I can pay tribute to her by listening to her strong soulful voice at anytime of the day or night. Aretha's music will continue to be the songbook of my life.
Singers will come and singers will go but Aretha Franklin will always be in a class of her own!
I love you Aretha.
4
Exquisite phrasing and diction, along with the voice and interpretation. I just listened to the Nessum Dorma performance link here, it brought me to tears, what an inspiring interpretation.
My family just watched her in The Blues Brothers on TV a couple of weeks ago, at that time I read her Wikipedia page, what is glossed over in that and in her obit here is that she got pregnant at 12 and had the baby before her 13th birthday. I have a 13yo daughter, and that fact about Aretha really struck me, hit me in the gut. It isn’t something that is talked about but it must have influenced her singing. On CNN they did not mention it in the hour that I listened. She apparently did not discuss her cancer with family or friends so she appears to be someone who did not dwell on the hardships in her life, but boy did she have them.
She was one of the top voices of the past century ( Aretha, Ella, Sinatra, Pavoratti, Whitney in some order) and appears to have been one of the strongest and most resilient people as well.
6
The Queen of Soul is immortal and will make Heaven a better place with her heavenly music. From the hand of our God blessings Aretha. Heaven had its largest sell out crowd today.
3
When Aretha sang, my feet started movin’..
3
R.I.P., Aretha. The Queen passed away today and 41 years ago today - The King.
3
David Bowie will pick you up at the gate, Aretha!
7
She sang at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's funeral. She lived to see Barack Obama become President of the United States. And, she sang in the Blues Brothers. She led a wonderful life in this country that is still fraught with racial strife, sorry I couldn't help myself. But in all seriousness and respect, may the Lord protect her and guide her and may she rest in peace.
12
The world is different. Hail the goer. Much love and respect.
3
A part of me just died today. The world is not the same.
4
on top of everything she did, shoe would have made a marvelous SERENA in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess!!
1
Aretha did not just sing songs, she wrote songs, she brought star quality to every musical project she was involved in. She is beloved in Detroit, where I am from, and across the USA. She embodied the struggle for civil rights, for women’s rights, and taught all of us to respect the power of music. Despite a personal life of struggles and problems, she was always her own woman. Rock on, Queen of Soul. We will miss your powerful presence, but your music will live forever.
10
How much fun it's been to dance to her music.
So sad.
1
That 1968 Time Magazine cover with Aretha Franklin was a rare nod to a woman’s cultural importance. In 1973, I wrote a college essay on Time’s treatment of women from 1968-1972. In that era, a Time cover meant you had “made it”. Only five women were on the cover of time during that period: Jackie Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy, Barbra Streisand, Golda Meir and Aretha Franklin. Two widows, one head of state and two singers. So few African American women were recognized for their accomplishments in that era; yet Aretha Franklin made the cover of Time.
Rest in Peace, Queen Aretha.
174
I knew that she was terminally ill, yet I still cried this morning when I heard that she had died. I never personally knew Aretha, yet her voice was such an important part of my life, going back to the 60's.
Aretha's death has reminded me that the insanity occurring in our country today will pass, it's not important. Aretha's voice, music and power will last forever!
161
@Gaucho54 Amen and amen.
May Ms. Franklin's family, friends and fans cherish her legacy of music, and may her spirit soar.
14
My daughter loved to sing. We were in a book store in London, she was about 14. She held up a Mojo magazine with the front page ´The 100 greatest singers ever!´ and asked can you buy it for me?
I said ‘only if Aretha is number one’. We still have that magazine and yes we still have Aretha.
14
Ms. Franklin can also be credited with my progressive hearing loss due to cranking up the volume when I listen(ed) to her sing! She was the BEST, and I am constantly amazed to have been fortunate enough to have grown up in the Motown era. I was so glad she performed at our Fox theater years ago--so many memories to cherish of her. God bless her and her family.
3
It's hard to pick a favorite, but I lean toward the album "Sparkle" written, produced and arranged by the great Curtis Mayfield. To me, Curtis understood and managed to capture in a recording studio both the essence and majesty of Aretha. Check out the title track, and just let her lift you to the ethereal spheres.
17
Other singers had the ability to land perfectly on every note (e.g., Judy Collins). Others (Streisand) had that ability to modulate their voices constantly. And others (Janis Joplin) could belt it out. But she was the only one who could do it all — and make it look effortless.
16
Aretha Franklin, Truly Soulful. Her wonderful voice lives on. Rest In Peace.
9
One can find really remarkable singers in a lot of churches, especiall Baptist churches. One can find artists who can mimic just about anyone in style, voice, diction, etc. No one ever tries to mimic or imitate the sound or voice of Aretha Franklin, and that says a lot about her place in music. RIP.
9
The woman’s voice and music reached down into my soul like no other musician has been able to do. I grew up near Detroit and Aretha’s music has followed me throughout my life and travels. Aretha Franklin’s history is so rich with gospel history and people like Martin Luther King was involved in her family dynamics. She is one of the all time greatest voices in America’s history. Aretha Franklin ... Rest In Peace...so loved the world over.
9
30 years ago this summer, I bought Aretha's album, Lady Soul and played it constantly. A couple years later, I bought Live at the Fillmore and wore that album out too. She was my idol and her music was the soundtrack of my life.
8
Aretha sang from her heart and her soul. Didn't need technology (like those today) and didn't need her voice to do acrobatics (like Mariah). She always seemed very down to earth and appreciative of everything and everybody. She never abused her voice or took it for granted. There is only 1 Queen of Soul and there will never be another. I'm so glad we have her music to listen to and smile every time we hear that amazing, God given voice.
5
Her music was so powerful and inspiring. Is there a woman alive who doesn’t feel like she can take on the world after listening to RESPECT? Listening to her felt like getting an infusion of confidence; it reaffirmed that we can be feminine AND strong.
She is going to be deeply mourned by so many, but thank god her music will remain.
12
Aretha was not just a singer but a teacher. She reminds me so much today of my mother, another generous soul that majored in music at Hunter (piano), taught 4th and 5th grade, and was in charge of all the musical productions at her school in the late 50s-70s, an 1898 schoolhouse in Travis on Staten Island. Everyone loved her. When she was in her 80s and had a caregiver, they would sing together in French (Denise was from Haiti). Aretha just feels like someone I have known forever. She makes me miss my mother very much. They were both wonderful, loving women.
15
It was not only her outstanding voice that made her unique. It had been this voice in combination with her never failing timing keeping her in a perfect flow with the band - even when there had been no band flow so she had to create this band flow with her voice first. She had always been not only the singer but also the band. They hadn´t a chance to run away too far. Aretha captured them by her voice anyway - if not she made a little bit longer or shorter until every fit into place.
2
@ws
You´d like to have an "exhibit A"?
Watch the "A Natural Woman" vid linked in this article. Look at 3:21. That´s the crucial moment.
She was absolutely fed up with the conventional violin show band then - and so she took control on the whole band within 3 seconds. She didn´t care about any previous arrangement from this very moment anymore. An "enough is enough" moment. So she was implementing her own schedule only by the power of HER voice. In this very moment all other musicians had only one survival chance: To follow her voice and to give her support as close as possible - or to perish on open stage in a minute.
Kudos to the sound engineer. He turned her voice a little bit louder then. The best he could do - so all others could not have some bad ideas in this situation...
1
The whole of the Universe has been expressing itself through Aretha, and we have had no choice but to open to hear her.
Eternal Gratitude.
3
I didn't realize how much Aretha meant to me until seeing her a few years ago on Valentine's Day. Hearing her live made my soul happy. I hadn't even thought about her playing piano, but her versions Bridge Over Troubled Water and My Funny Valentine made for everlasting memories.
The pocketbook has left the stage for the last time. May the Queen rest in peace.
15
@Lisa I loved the pocketbook on the stage!
4
Rest in Peace to a true queen and pioneer of music. As a classically trained singer, the image in my head of projecting my voice to it's full power has always been one of Aretha.
I will never forget watching Ms. Franklin sing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at Barack Obama's Inauguration. It was a moment where a voice that carried so many people through struggle got to introduce us into a new, hopeful time.
Rest in Power, Ms. Franklin. You will be deeply missed.
22
The legends of our time are sometimes forgotten - but Aretha Franklin's legacy is such that she will always be remembered - she is, after all the "Queen Of SouL' and was a trailblazer in so many ways - and has left us with so many magical moments - https://johnrieber.com/2018/08/16/rip-aretha-franklin-weve-lost-the-quee...
2
When I read this news I choked up and at the same time realized I had a smile on my face. No other vocalist in my entire life has brought me as much or more satisfaction or peace as Aretha.
What a memory, a memorial, and a legacy to leave...tears and joy.
I am rejoicing for you, Aretha. All heaven and earth embrace you.
21
Rest in Peace, Aretha. Your songs and voice will always be remembered by those of us who loved your music.
2
Two things not mentioned here so far:
She was the queen of phrasing, too. She always made the song her own.
Although she expressed in her singing all the pain and joy of a life well lived, she kept her personal issues out of her music.
To her public, she was always a lady.
166
@RW
Amen to that. You hit on something really unique about her, which is so alien to this day and age where stars via social media give us way to much personal information. That´s why, with her soulful phrasing and ability to be discrete, I have always RESPECTED the Queen of Soul, Aretha. What a lady indeed.
@RW;
She was QUEEN!
@RW All the "pain and joy of a life well lived" are personal issues. She brought herself to her music. It's completely personal.
Once I heard Aretha at Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Morningside Heights in Manhattan at an event in opposition to the Vietnam War during the darkest days of Nixon's reign. It was the slimmed-down version of Lady Soul who had nearly as many incarnations as Dylan. She sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." Her swooping voice filled the vaulting nave of the Gothic Revival cathedral. Aretha never left the church. She has gone home, now and forevermore.
139
@Richard
I know how great that Cathedral is. I spent 4 years living near Morningside Heights getting my Bachelor's Degree in religion at CU. I used to run down Morningside Drive (West Side Highway at the time?) during my freshman and sophmore years to pick daffodils and I was always listening to Elvis, who died on August 16th too, by the way.
She was the best at what she did.
When she sang you sang with her.
When she sang you wanted to dance.
There was only one Aretha, and of her genre and times, she will never be topped!
14
The one and only Queen of Soul, an American Original, who enthralled us all for decades and is irreplaceable - she gave the word Respect a whole new meaning.
7
I Loved her
9
Will always love her.
4
If anyone earned the right to be a diva, it was Aretha. Her voice was her instrument, and it can still give me goosebumps. Rest in peace, Queen of Soul.
6
Farewell and thank you to an American icon.
6
I will miss that amazing voice!! Now she will be singing in heaven and rocking the heavens!! She is at peace and feels no more pain!! She was an amazing caring person!!!
3
There are some musicians/artists who one wishes could live forever. Aretha will always live through her amazing Gospel infused voice and passionately felt songs. Long may she live.
8
Soul has gone to heaven.;
8
What a loss! As the photo on the Apollo’s marquee read, “She’s Home!”
Memory Eternal! Isn’t it ironic that on two August 16th’s, we had to lose both our “King” and our “Queen”?
6
I'll say a little prayer for you.
Thank you so very much.
7
Jon Pareles; Excellent Job.
2
If ya don’t have it in your music collection, be sure and buy her “Aretha Sings the Blues”..
Just gotta be some of her best!!!!
3
I guess it was time.
They say a Lady always knows when to leave.
Your song is a part of the foundation that is the Soundtrack of My Life. My Mother made it clear to me when I was still in diapers: "Aretha is the truth..."
We may never know your equal.
Your effortless virtuosity.
Any attempt to parse even a fraction of what you understood about music would shut down the internet.
A voice born in the womb and textured by the Gospel.
And by A Black Girl's Magic.
Travel well, Love.
5
How could Aretha Franklin ever die? Absolutely incomprehensible.
6
She was a treasure who will always be remembered through her music. Godspeed Aretha!
3
G-d help us; the same date that Elvis Presley passed; may they both rest in peace...they gave us so much...
7
So sad. We've lost a wonderful and unique voice. One who has no imitators that I can think of. May her music and memory live on and be present with us always.
2
Since I heard of Ms. Franklin's death, "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" has been going through my head all day. I would have consciously expected to be hearing "Respect", but apparently my unconscious mind has other ideas.
Yet her life continues to evoke her songs in the heads of people who were total strangers to her, like me. Most of us could only hope for such creative immortality. Godspeed, Aretha Franklin. And thank you.
7
Aretha was totally unique and beautiful. Her passing is a sad moment in history. I feel privileged to have grown up listening to her music, and her music will live on forever.
8
The Queen of Soul. What a great legacy. Long live the queen!
7
She was my home town, and we loved her through everything. Everything.
97
This lady deserves an anthem, a legendary singer, may her soul rest in eternal peace.
6
A brilliant and legendary voice silenced far too soon. Aretha Franklin, whose career blossomed in the tendentious decade of the sixties, had a vocal range and power few singers of any era could match much less surpass. She deservedly holds many honors both in the music industry and as a major proponent of civil rights throughout her long and illustrious tenure as "queen of soul." Aretha Franklin, an unmatched musician, and an incredibly influential person will be sorely missed.
5
Rest In Peace Lady Soul. You brought us to the Promise Land with your indescribable voice. Now you’re singing with the Angels.
3
Today, I’m sad because you died
You sang your heart
And sometimes, I cried
The world was a better place
Simply, because you were in it.
You gave a voice to feelings,
That were in all of us.
During a time,
When you were relegated,
To the back of the bus.
Yet, over time you shared your gift
With the world
You became our voice
You grew to become a friend
You defined what it meant
To have a soul
You used your voice
To express sadness
To rejoice
And, because you did
We will never be the same again.
Thank you
5
One of the greatest singers of all time. Aretha. Anyone with working ears would know who she was. A most distinctive voice for decades. She will be missed and remembered for all time. Aretha, Rest In Peace.
7
The greatest singers I've ever heard: Maria Callas, Umm Kulthum and Aretha Franklin. Immortal, all three.
5
What a Voice !!! And, what a wonderful Woman !!! As a kid in Chicago, when the MoTown Sound joined the Blues of my home town - oh, man - that was hot ! And at the very front of that acoustic wave of power was Aretha.
You will be greatly missed, and sweetly remembered.
We all love you, Aretha, and we always will.
5
Aretha will live forever through her music- it is absolutely timeless. I’m concerned that so many people are dying from pancreatic cancer, statistics are showing that it is on the rise (#4 in cancer) and by far the most deadly. What is going on?
5
@Wonder
more diabetics. more pancreatic cancer.
So nice to see a worthwhile name in the headlines for a change,but deeply sorrowful of the context. Listening to her voice as a teenager,it was the strongest,still is....listen to her version of A Change Is Gonna Come.
3
My grief knew no bounds when I heard the news of Aretha's death--then I remembered that she is with us now and forever. RIP dearest Aretha--if I could come back as anything I please in my next life it would be singing back-up for whatever Aretha's singing.
8
A wonderful sentiment.
An American Treasure. Born in the late 50's and came of age in the 70's I'm glad i was old enough to appreciate and experience her music. There may never be another Aretha Franklin - her spirit will live on and I am sure we will all be listening to her a lot more..
5
I lived below 2 young white guys in Brookline, MA who endlessly blared "Pink Cadillac". I don't know if they were aware of any other Aretha hits, but they certainly
appreciated that one.
How many singers today will ever measure up to this woman?
7
Aretha has gone home. Here is my tribute https://www.wqxr.org/story/singular-voices-aretha-franklin
1
I just listened to Aretha Franklin singing My Country Tis of Thee at Obama's inauguration. It will make you cry for Aretha AND for the country she wanted us so badly to be...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aBVV0QUtZo
13
Sad day here in Detroit. There will never be another voice like that.
10
@Horace She returned while others (I'm looking at you, Motown artists) fled.
Now SHE is the America I prefer to think is the REAL America and not this current nightmare we’re witnessing.
RIP
20
Yes singing, speaking and sharing Love, not hate.
Rock Steady. What a loss.
7
America the Beautiful? Please check on that....
1
As we stumble, heart-weary, through the black night of America's soul, it is good to remember that once we gave the world this Light.
12
R - E - S - T - I - N - P, Aretha Franklin.
3
A soulful angel leaves Earth to join a heavenly choir of such souls.
3
She's leading the choir in heaven already. I would tell her to rest in peace, but you know the place is rockin'.
6
The news of Aretha's death made me cry.
6
Sing on with the angels, Queen of Soul.
6
Aretha Franklin singing God Bless America at Barack Obama's inauguration, a great American moment.
18
The best. RIP.
4
It is a diminished world without Aretha Franklin in it.
I remember so well the first time I heard her sing. I was just a kid, 1967 or '68, and it was only on the radio, but ... just the raw emotional power of that big, strong voice singing "Chain of Fools." Oh my gosh, who IS this woman??!!
I have loved her music and performances ever since, and it's comforting to have her recordings to remember her by. Queen of Soul indeed.
6
She's on the Freeway to Heaven in that Pink Cadillac. Still remember her as the waitress in The Blues Brothers singing Think to Jake and Elwood in the diner. RIP Queen.
3
Mary don't you weep, tell Martha not to moan, Aretha gifted us and is now home.
7
Will never stop listening to her music. Rip, Queen if Soul!
6
There will never be another like Aretha Franklin , her voice led me thru my young years , I danced with her , sat quietly and listened to her , rejoiced with her , she has always been there . Her voice and spirit now vibrates with the universe but what she leaves behind is a legacy of greatness and her joy , we are so fortunate .
5
Amazing grace. Rock steady.
Aretha Franklin's magnificent voice has given immeasurable joy and comfort throughout my life, no other artist comes close — each sustained note of raw emotion so deeply felt. I'm eternally grateful for her amazing live performances and the recorded jewels she's left us — such generous, beautiful, spiritual gifts.
Ms. Franklin, you were simply the best.
A Queen, indeed. Rest in peace.
6
Aretha was a gift from God to the world..
What a wonderful beautiful woman who inspired generations and kept our souls human, lifted and joyful. As a christian, its not "goodbye" but "see you later". Thoughts and prayers to her sons and loved ones.
2
I loved Ms. Franklin in "The Blues Brothers" but in my darkest times I would listen to her song "God Will Take Care of You" which was like listening to wise, loving and God-fear aunt remind you to keep enduring and persevering. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDroNc1-RzE)
Thank you Ms. Franklin. It's a sad day because music not only lost someone with talent, but class.
3
What a special, spectacular, supreme person she is (I can't bring myself to use the past tense).
I had the great pleasure of attending one of her concerts at the end of July last year. She put her heart and soul into it; the show was magnificent.
Last night I attended a Gladys Knight show and Ms. Knight gave an emotional and moving tribute to Ms. Franklin.
Ma'am, RIP. We love you.
3
Such a sad loss, although perhaps something of a blessing too, as I don't imagine pancreatic cancer is very pleasant.
Her music has always been in my life, that voice that soars and swoops, the hair that stands up on the back of the neck, the goosebumps on your arms. But her movie and TV appearances were perhaps a bit overlooked. On Murphy Brown, small though the part was was, she was hilarious and I'll always remember it. She sits down at the piano and starts playing and singing, and Candice Bergen (as Murphy) joins in, terribly off-key. Aretha stops, turns to Bergen and says, in a perfectly deadpan voice, "Listen, I'm not Martha, and you ain't no Vandela!". Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!
A giant talent gone, and we're all the poorer for her loss.
7
I grew up listening to RESPECT and many other Billboard 100 classics from Aretha Franklin. She was truly an icon, a titan and the undisputed Queen of Soul. She will be sorely missed by so many. Thank you for this obituary. She was one dynamic lady. RIP Aretha... rest in the Lord
1
Rest in Peace Aretha. Your music is loved and always will be. One of the first songs I learned on bass was Since You've Been Gone. I'll play that tonight in your honor.
5
As an eighties kid, I knew Aretha's earlier recordings, but my sophomore year in college was kind of dominated by "Who's Zoomin' Who." It was a pretty typical mid-eighties album, but at the same time, it was Aretha, so that raised the bar. Her 1987 duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)", though, was her best eighties song, but then again there's no such thing as a bad Aretha Franklin song. There will never be another one like her.
3
What a voice. What soul. When Aretha sang a song, it was sung, forever.
The song "Respect" evokes an era. It makes me think of the women's movement and women needing and wanting to be seen, heard and valued. Not much has changed.
Thank you, Aretha. You took care of business and we're better for it.
3
THE woman singer of her time.
Brava, Ave, and Thanks beyond...
3
She had a voice like a trumpet - lucky enough to have seen her and knew I was in the presence of genius.
8
I saw her too at the Apollo Theater in the 70s.
Oh, what a voice, what a presence! When we saw Aretha singing for Obama's inauguration on TV, my very young niece asked, "who's that lady in the funny hat?" "That's the Queen of Soul," her mother chided her. "She can wear any kind of hat she wants."
13
A sweet memory.
A legend while alive a legend now. The best of the best.
1
I saw Aretha in concert 2009 at the Warng theatre in Boston with a full orchestra and backup singers. She closed the show with a gospel set and that night felt like MLK's favourite gospel singer sang just for me and for all the ladies there in their church hats. Incomparable.
8
In 2001 I had engaged Aretha Franklin to entertain at a fundraising dinner in support of the cardiac departments at the Toronto General Hospital and the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. To my amazement, she confessed that she never flew and went everywhere in her own bus. While she (rightly) assumed that we would find the best hotel in Toronto for her overnight stay, her primary concern seemed to be that her vehicle and driver be given the same five star treatment. Unfortunately, the dinner was to have taken place on September 11th and was cancelled. Ms. Franklin was most gracious and offered her services for any future event we might plan, but we were never able to take advantage of this.
9
Thank you Aretha. Godspeed in your pink Cadillac.
4
Aretha Franklin was definetly a roll model for many.
3
Thank you for the music, Ms. Aretha Franklin and gracing us with your presence, your talent, and your humanity.
8
The photo of President Bush and Ms. Franklin is a potent reminder of the perils of our present cultural moment. We have lost more than a Queen today.
8
Just watched/listened to bunch of YouTube clips of Aretha Franklin - Where have I been?! What phenomenal voice and presence. In some clips, it took me couple of minutes to realize that she is singing it live! Here's to Aretha Franklin driving on the freeway of love in her pink Cadillac.
I was in the grocery store and they began playing one song of hers after another and that's how I found out she was gone.
What an incredible legacy she left.
7
The tributes come and no matter how meaningful, never enough. You can't put words to the transcendent and ethereal, the timeless, eternal.
Always of the heavens, have a great time going back.
15
RIP, Aretha. We loved you so.
3
Some years ago in a conversation a white man questioning a black man asked which of a list of singers had soul. As the white man named singers, the black man responded, answering whether or not that particular singer had soul. When it came to Ray Charles, the black man responded, "Ray Charles does not HAVE soul; Ray Charles IS soul." The same can be said for Aretha Franklin. We give thanks for her gift to us.
2
She is great. The music lives.
1
Aretha!
Blessed by both her voice and her name.
The first CD I ever bought was Aretha's Greatest Hits.
Texting with my children all morning. Remembering Aretha.
A singer on the "Hi" record label named George Jackson recorded a song in tribute to Aretha,
He said "Miss Aretha, sing one for me".
3
When will we ever see the likes of her again, singing a love song to the President of the United States at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors?
She will be missed.
3
Before I learned how to spell bananas with Gwen Stefani, I learned how to spell respect because of Aretha Franklin. Her voice was powerful and I will be one of the first to admit she'll be missed.
6
Aretha, you’re all I need to get by. RIP.
Those who were following knew that Aretha would not make it through the week. To include a tribute to Madonna in the same website column as Aretha's obituary is inappropriate and distasteful.
1
@michjas, Agreed!
Her voice made my heart soar and my uncoordinated body move. Too soon gone.
8
Every day, another part of my childhood dies. Aretha was a joyful part of it.
4
Aretha Franklin could sing the phone book (archaic reference) and transport me to be a better place.
For me, her voice is an invocation - it makes any space it fills more true.
I hope she had some sense of her extraordinary gift and her instinctive ability to distinguish the human soul.
She'll be missed, but I among many will continue to fill days and nights with the unmistakable magic of her sweet, sweet healing sound.
I am truly thankful for Aretha Franklin.
3
Other singers have and will sing harder-higher-more notes, but the relationship Aretha Franklin forges between her voice and her "backing singers" and other musicians is phenomenal. She lets them control the song, she even lets them sing its title! The space her generosity creates is incredible. It's not quite call-and-response, it's not just a jazz musician taking solos, it's artistic genius. RIP Queen of Soul.
138
Every time she sang, she was a galvanizing force for the power of women. Her voice went right into the fiber of your being and made you feel strong, ready, connected to life itself.
This is what it means to be human, this is what it means to pay attention to life, this is what it means to feel the force of joy, sorrow, dignity, respect, and glorious humanity.
Aretha, you gave us something so well worth having: the woman you will always be for so many of us.
183
A sad day. What an extraordinary gift she has been to music and people everywhere.
25
Bless her soul.
16
If you haven't had a chance to watch the diner scene from "The Blues Brothers", now is probably a good time to do so.
20
She saved my life.
When I was a teenager in 1967, living in a state of adolescent anxiety, I felt alone and isolated for all the usual adolescent reasons, but also because I knew I was gay and had to keep it a secret.
My sister showed me an album of Aretha Franklin, and played it for me. I immediately connected. Aretha sang the songs of love and relationships - mostly the painful aspects, unrequited love, cheating men, in other words, The Blues. But it was in a slightly new form …Soul. And while her astonishing versatile voice communicated her pain, there was often some form of triumph, of strength, of comfort. She saved my life. I immediately learned two things from her voice that no one could have ever have told me; that I was not alone in my angst and that I was not alone with my aspirations. The message of her laments and then her hopes seared through my bones, and have never left me.
In 2014, the NY Times reviewed a biography of her, and the reviewer, Elsa Dixlertold, told a story in the first paragraph of hearing her for the first time in 1967, and in the last paragraph of her husband rediscovering her again in 2014.
Here's the link. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/books/review/respect-the-life-of-aret...
For me, it sums up her enduring legacy, and why we loved her.
26
Along with Ray Charles Aretha towered over the musical world. Listen...the sheer might and power of her artistry is unmatched.
23
I grew up in another part of the world and there were two African American women they taught us about - Rosa Parks and Aretha Franklin. One stirred the conscience and the other, the soul!
66
This article skims over the important and ironic fact that Aretha's career and sound became the sound of Black Soul, only after she teamed up with the Muscle Shoals Studio band - who were mainly White.
Many of them were country musicians and songwriters, including the great Spooner Oldham. They laid down the rawest of Franklin tracks - "Chain of Fools" etc.
My point being - in these divided time's music can always remind us that it is color blind and the best American music is a mix of the melting pot we are.
23
So many singers but only one truly magnificent voice and presence, only Aretha.
You can keep the angels company now.
RIP
18
A Natural Woman worthy of RESPECT!
I still get goose bumps when I her her voice soar in her songs!
RIP
8
No more pain, now. Respect.
14
Oh my goddess...I’m still lying in bed on the West Coast after awakening to the glorious 60-point tribute to Madonna’s 60th birthday on the NYT’s front page, center top (“Request Desktop Site” Forever because I will rebel against the NYTimes-enforced tunnel-visioned mobile site till the day I too die). It trapped me between the sheets for nearly an hour of mesmerizing meandering down memory lane.
When I returned to the same spot on the front page, Madonna’s image briefly reappeared while my browser stuttered with the reload. It was then replaced by Aretha Franklin. I didn’t even have to read the headline because I already knew she was gravely ill. What a moment of transition for this generationally-transitional child...the superstar woman of my Gen-X adulthood in front page tribute as the superstar woman of my Baby-Boomer saturated childhood lay dying, ready to kick even the great Madonna off the front page...as it should be.
It’s no question that without Aretha, Madonna would have had an even tougher road to travel. Aretha was the first woman to reach truly eternal superstardom. She was also the first to meld the religious traditions of her youth with the musical language of pop hits. Madonna was, of course, more overt and transgressive but she was not the first to do so.
What can I say, except that the tears of life lost I shed now are propelling me out of bed to try, in my remaining years, to be a fraction of what these two women have been for lifetimes.
7
While I enjoyed the breezy article on the 60 (right) times Madonna changed the culture (ahem), Aretha Franklin's ability and influence over so many towers above all that. America has lost a tremendous and inspirational talent, one that will linger far longer than, sorry, Madonna's and certainly longer than that stinker in the WH.
3
RESPECT!! ARTHEA YOU WILL BE MISSED. YOUR MUSIC WILL BE REMEMBERED. RESPECT YOU'VE EARNED IT FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.
4
Aretha, we'll always remember you and respect you. As a new American citizen, I always have a CD with your best songs in my car. To me, your voice will always represent the positive and energizing American spirit. Each time I go abroad with my family and come back, the first CD we play on our drive from the airport to our house is yours! And the usual comment I get from my little one is "Now we are back home, Mommy!"
22
Sad day.
Aretha was the Empress of it all.
8
We have lost yet another great icon of our times. I am so grateful to have experienced the joy of her music, the depth of her commitment and the intellectual curiosity of her mind. She will be very much missed, but always remembered.
To her other fans, take note that she saw the existential danger to the country that she so loved - the rise of the age of Trump. Remember that when you vote. Aretha held more degrees of honor than Trump can count. He has not yet unleashed his Twitter finger to try to demean this amazing woman who makes him look like the troll he is.
12
@RealTRUTH
"He has not yet unleashed his Twitter finger to try to demean this amazing woman.."
You know, as horrific as it sounds, as mean, small, petty, and rotten as it sounds, there is a small part of me that sort of hopes he does. Maybe THAT will finally do it? Turn people against him? Maybe?
2
@RealTRUTH We are here to share our memories of this amazing woman, leave Trump out of it, not part of this discussion and does not belong here.
@Howard M. Burgers Respectfully, it is an excellent time to remind people of her morals and principles. It is Trump that has inserted himself into everything and Aretha despised that and his total absence of a moral compass.
If she were still with us she would have reminded you herself.
Aretha made our DNA vibrate! The best song with which to celebrate her life would be: "Fame, I want to live forever". And Aretha will live forever in all of our collective memories. Rest in Peace!
18
Truly heartbreaking. I'll never forget her performance that she did for President Obama at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015. Ms. Franklin was a class act, one of the most incredible artists of my lifetime.
May you rest in peace.
20
I had tears in my eyes this morning. So sad. That voice--it will never die. Aretha's life--hardship and all--what an inspiration beyond the music.
My favorite: "Freeway of Love." Riding along in a pink Cadillac. That song has stayed with me always.
11
Throughout my life I spent more time with Aretha (listening to her records, CDs, then streaming) than any other one person. When I felt celebratory - listen to Aretha. When I was down - listen to Aretha and be lifted. When in a breakup - listen to Aretha. She was unequivocally the best female role model for modern feminism pushing us to live in this world but demand respect and own your power. She did not stray from that. Well….you know what I’m saying. A formidable power on earth that will only amplify now. Condolences to Aretha’s family and friends. Really appreciate your sharing her with us.
25
Aretha, rest in peace, glory, and joy. May you have a full measure of the power and strength you gave to the world during your amazing life.
6
The bridge in her cover of "Natural Woman" is, in my opinion, the best bridge in rock or soul.
5
Aretha Franklin was and will remain truly, truly the queen and the empress of soul. She was and is beyond worldly, a soul whose spirit will endure for a very long time. Good-bye, sweet and majestic lady!
21
There will only be one ARETHA FRANKLIN!
She gave the “boomer” generation its SOUL;and her force is with us today as a gift of her inspiring and powerful legacy.
She was, is and shall always be “The Queen of Soul!”
6
If you want to feel good in these troubled times watch Aretha Franklin perform Natural Woman at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors. I have been watching it frequently the past few days. It is just an amazing performance and the entire audience is swept up in the moment.
37
My generation grew up with Aretha. She may not have invented soul music, but she transformed it--she brought church to whatever she sang, and those of us listening could not help but feel it.
And now, as she passes, she takes part of us with her.
22
Her voice and music could make a non-believer believe.
9
@Trina Way
Indeed! I can tell you for a fact that the Amazing Grace album is all the church I have ever and I believe, will ever need. Since the day it came out. Double album. Divine.
If you haven't heard Aretha Franklin's rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," you haven't lived.
27
Very sad now. A big part of my childhood was listening to then "old" R&B hits. In this day of mediocre overproduced sound alike pop hits, her loss is felt even more keenly.
14
The "Queen Mother" is gone but not forgotten. Aretha Franklin's name will be as hallowed as those of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Mahalia Jackson.
Amazing grace is what you gave your legions of fans around the world, and your signature song "Respect" is what prompted James Brown to urge kids not to be dropouts and tell the world they were black and proud. It was you, Aretha Franklin, who gave James Brown a badly needed wake-up call. God bless you.
6
Hey Nineteen - Steely Dan’s hit that reminds the young of Aretha Franklin - the Queen of Soul
Rest in peace Queen
4
@Amanda Bonner
Actually the line is something to the effect of Hey, nineteen-- thats 'retha Franklin....she don't remember the Queen of Soul. Kind of implying that the 19 year old he's hanging in out with is too young to remember her, and too young for him.
1
She meant the world to my FAMILY .. gave us Pride knowing a woman of God was so well respected around the world . and she looked like us .. talked like us . Made you so proud to be a African American .. God Bless the Queen !!
18
Aretha was such a wonderful and talented singer. Those hits from the late 60's and 70's cemented her title as the "Queen of Soul". Oh how I miss that era of music. She will certainly be missed. Rest on, Aretha!
7
An American treasure---my serotonin when I was an adolescent. Her inimitable songbook was a wonderful companion--for decades, my place for inspiration and joy. I will miss the one and only Aretha...forever. Queen of Soul--A well-deserved RIP!
6
@Sage
Serotonin AND dopamine!
2
She was one of the great ones whose 45s I would play over and over on my then state of the art portable record player until I had to replace the needle.
The technology changed but Aretha Franklin always remained one of the greatest artists the world has ever known. My heart breaks over the loss to her family and the world. RIP.
8
All comparisons between them aside - it is very eerie that Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and Robert Johnson all died on August 16th.
Aretha was the best. The pinnacle.
8
@Ignatius J. Reilly
And that Madonna was born on August 16th...
I loved Aretha's soul music, but the album I play the most is her live Gospel concert in Los Angeles, "Amazing Grace." She was on TV once, with Stevie Wonder and other singers. He said he didn't need to see her to know she was there - he could feel the positive energy of her presence.
8
In September 1967 I headed off to college with a portable record player and one album..'I Never Loved a Man'. Today my favorite Pandora station is Aretha Franklin music. The Gods are eternal. Rest in peace Queen.
21
What a tremendous loss. Thank you for the joy and beauty of your gift that you shared with the world. Rest In Peace.
3
I was in grade school in the 60's and hearing soul music pouring out of my little transistor radio was as normal as turning on the faucet and pouring a glass of good cold water. Now I know how fortunate I was to have witnessed such a creative pinnacle. The music of Aretha and her peers is a gift to the world.
7
The full tilt music of my life. From grade school to today.
Another hole in the fabric of the universe opens and Aretha soars away.
Im love you, lady.
13
On a day when newspapers around the country are printing stories about the President of the United States calling an African American woman a dog, let us all remember the multiple ways in which Aretha taught us to demand RESPECT. I first heard her in the radio broadcast of Dr. King's funeral . . .
47
@kate
Not surprised you brought this up. I also also noticed the irony that Trump's habitual degradation of people of color, and his penchant for calling African American women "Low I.Q, and "dogs", are the news of this day when Aretha passed.
It's not lost on most of America, less the Trump supporters
1
She had more talent than one human being should be allowed to have.
3
Looking out on the morning rain
I used to feel so uninspired
And when I knew I had to face another day
Lord, it made me feel so tired
Before the day I met you, life was so unkind
But your the key to my peace of mind
'Cause you make me feel,
You make me feel . . . .
11
May her memory always be for a blessing.
6
And every one of us now says a little prayer for her and her family.
Once upon a voice the music.
R.E.S.P.E.CT
7
Growing up I would hear Aretha on the radio and I would run to the mirror and belt it out with her in my best “Aretha voice”. She made the world a better place.
11
May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest, Aretha.
8
Shaken by the news, I listen to "Rock Steady" to regain my equilibrium.
4
Lyrics from "I say a little prayer", says it best for me:
"The moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little pray for you
While combing my hair now
And wondering what dress to wear now
I say a little prayer for you
Forever and ever, you'll stay in my heart
And I will love you
Forever and ever, we never will part
Oh, how I love you
Together, forever, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only mean heartbreak for me"
RIP Aretha Franklin. Thanks for the memories.
20
Every time I hear Aretha Franklin belt out "Respect" it sends chills down my spine. Her spirit was contagious.
What a great talent she was. Rest in peace.
11
She has made a HUGE impact in the music and social culture. My heart and prayers goes out her families and friends.
8
"Ms. Franklin stayed musically ambitious. She repeatedly announced plans to study classical piano and finally learn to sight-read music at the Juilliard School, but she never enrolled."
Something tells me that if Ms. Franklin had enrolled at Julliard, she would have ended up teaching them more than what they had to teach her. Genius and brilliance like hers graces this life only so rarely.
31
She was the idol of deep, meaningful music. She thrilled the words, she thrilled the world... And the world is now lost for words.
Thank you, Aretha, for having confered such power to music.
27
James Brown, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations...that's when a party was a party.
59
R.I.P. Aretha. When The Lord is blue from all the mess we are making down here, you can sing "At Last" for him/her.
12
Even at 73 she still brought down the house in her amazing Kennedy Center performance honoring Carole King. Despite fame and fortunte her life wasn't always easy, but her music brought joy to so many and I hope she had immense joy in her life. Gone but will be remembered for centuries to come.
6
My favorite "crank it up as loud as you can" Aretha song is "I say a little prayer". Especially her famous live version. Just love it.
RIP Ms. Franklin and thank you!
2
As a lifelong Detroiter, it feels as if we have lost a member of the family. Her talent was transcendent and when she sang her heart and soul filled us up with awe and meaning. What a loss for us all.
20
What really set Aretha apart was her experience as a young gospel singer in church and a unique voice. That tradition is mostly dead but her influence will live on for a very long time.
3
She was larger than life as a singer and interpreter of song, from the blues to jazz, gospel, soul, and pop music.
She sang for Presidents, Kings, Queens, other royalty, and in stadiums, night clubs, theatres around the globe and on the chitlin circuit back in the late 50's and early 60's when race music was played only on certain radio stations.
No matter where it was, one note out of her mouth, and you knew you were in the company of an incomparable singer who brought her life experiences in to her singing.
RIP Aretha.
8
Ms. Franklin’s voice was one of the central voices in my life, I still listen to “Amazing Grace” a few times a year. We will be listening to all the passion and grace she shared for ages.
3
Sometimes life speaks louder than words. Aretha gave us life through her voice.
4
QUEEN OF SOUL ABOVE ALL A "LADY" YOU WILL BE MISSED.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ONE CAN NOR HAS BEEN ABLE TO GO THE WHOLE NINE YARDS MUSICALLY SPEAKING.
WHAT A BLESSING YOUR VOICE BROUGHT TO THE WORLD.
MY CONDOLENCES TO YOUR FAMILY QUEEN. REST IN PEACE.
2
In the summer of 1969, when I was fifteen, my mother sent me off for a trip to Yugoslavia with some close friends and their daughter, who was a year older than I was. I worshipped Hendrix, Cream, the Doors etc. and had no interest in soul music. The daughter, who was a big soul music fan, brought a cassette recording of "Aretha in Paris" and played it again and again. Almost against my will I started to like it. By the end of the summer Aretha had converted me. I still loved rock but she had widened my musical horizons.
6
When I was 6 years old, I remember going to the grocery store with my mother in our used Pontiac Tempest wagon. On the way, we listened to WABC radio (as usual back then) on the tinny car radio. I heard Aretha sing Respect for the first time. A few years later, the same scenario, when we heard Natural Woman. I have always had the same emotional reaction to hearing Aretha. No matter what my mood was, she always lifted me, I felt my feet leave the ground, I got happy, I moved with the music, I soared with her voice, and I smiled. My children have witnessed the same reaction wash over me even to this day. They smile too when they see me have my Aretha moments.
Thank you Arthea. You gave me precious good feelings which I will always carry with me. Bless your heart.
29
Brava to the brave bold master singer Aretha Franklin. May her music find REPEAT on campaign trail sound systems.
7
Last night, one of the cable networks played excerpts of her singing “My Country tis off Thee,” at President Obama’s first inauguration. It brought tears to my eyes. How far have we regressed as a country since then? I remember Jesse Jackson’s face, tears of joy and pride streaming down his cheeks.
How far we came as a nation! How painful and how long the journey! But it was worth it.
Layered over that is “Respect,” the anthem
for the rights of all people, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation for which the Queen of Soul will be forever remembered.
Some day our country will revive the beliefs embodied in so much or her music and we may once again resume the battle in which the people of the light prevails.
Be at peace, Aretha.
11
I was just listening to Ms. Franklin's father, Rev. CL Franklin, describing his daughter in a cut from an album of gospel songs. Remarks By Reverend C L. Franklin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLKZp EZKWk&list=OLAK5uy_nO8nO5WFSLcwqwAugnKJMCuc3KpR6kfm4&index=10 .
There will many comments and this is the best description. In memory of Ms. Franklin - "Jesus Promised me A home Over There" - Jennifer Hudson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4WDrTY9_ew.
We thank you Lord God for bringing a gift among us and now she is back with forever!
2
Aretha.... expressed the miracles and trials of life and the human spirit ... in every song......through her divine voice......she was the essence of SOUL........grateful for her spark of light in the vast universe......THANKS
8
Our hearts are breaking to lose the Queen of Soul, and a heroine of Civil Rights.
Our lives will be dimmer with her light gone from us.
R.I.P. Ms. Franklin
4
Two generations of my family had the honor of hearing her sing in choir at New Bethel Baptist Church. Her voice would move your spirit like no other.
25
Aretha Franklin’s voice, rich and earthy, seemed to emerge from the soil and soar to the heavens. Ms. Franklin was an indelible and invaluable part of the soundtrack of our lives, and I am grateful for what she gave us. RIP.
5
The Queen of Soul. She was an icon of our age. Just one of her many fans mourning her passing. Loved all her music. My favorite was her appearance in The Blues Brothers... "you better think about the consequences of your actions, you better think." She did it with style and class. You remain in our hearts Aretha.
5
A few years ago, I stumbled across an Aretha Franklin record I'd never heard before, This Girl's In Love With You. Holy lord. I played it once, then twice, and I never play any record twice in a row. I was midway through the third playing when my turntable broke. I did not pass go. I did not collect $200. I went, immediately, to the internet and ordered a new turntable. When it arrived a few days later, you can guess the first record I played.
That was the thing with Aretha Franklin. No matter how much you listened to her, no matter how many years ago the record was recorded, it always, always, always was--still is--fresh. I can't think of anyone who could avoid falling under her spell. I once lived in a large boarding home that had been converted into apartments. Folks would complain about some of the stuff I played, perhaps louder than I should have. No one ever complained when it was Aretha.
RIP, Ms. Franklin. We'll all say a little prayer for you.
15
My Country Tis of Thee thank you to ALL who aspire to emulate the deep, soulful, compassion of OUR Queen of soul ARETHA.
2
In the quiet moments after their births I also sang "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" to my sons. RIP Ms. Franklin.
7
I saw her at the Westchester County Center in 2013, and she was still spectacular.
4
Another iconic legend lost in just the past five years,let alone decade.
Rest, you incredible woman & being!
Thank you for the legacy you leave behind, Ms Franklin.
3
I’ve loved her since I first heard her. I’ve referred to her as my “girlfriend”, society didn’t allow my to have another wife, so I added her to my dreams. She joined Ella, Whitney, Ray, Bob Marley, and others whose music made them part of me.
Aretha, goodbye. I loved you, and always will.
Jah guide you.
3
Few voices command such a presence. Karen Carpenter was one. Aretha was another. She is legendary, a reserved and rare status few attain. Like Karen Carpenter, Aretha's voice was powerful and individualistic. It's a sad day when a legend dies.
1
It was privilege to be alive during the Aretha Franklin Era - to listen, love and understand a Great American!
9
We should all pause to reflect on the life and mighty musical contributions of Aretha Franklin, and to be thankful for her gift of passionate, soul-stirring song to all of us for so many years. Thank you, Aretha!
7
Amazing Grace was the first record I ever bought. Some of its songs are still on almost any playlist.
What I love most about Aretha Franklin's music is the authenticity. There is so absolutely no fake, no over production, no ironing out the little mistunes, just Aretha, straight from the mic. Few artists are that perfect in anything they perform.
Aretha, your music has often stirred me to tears. Now I am crying for your loss. Rest in Peace, the heavens can sure use your music.
7
When I first left home at 17, newly from the sticks of Colorado to the big city, I lived in a bordering house near San Jose State where the fellow who lived next door was a grizzled (at 23) returned Vietnam Vet suffering from PTSD. Though a White Southern boy I could hear him playing Ms Franklin's music in his room day or night; and when I asked him why he listened to soul music instead of the hard and acid rock all the other guys in the house (including myself) listened to at the time he told me, "Her voice reminds of home, makes me feel everything is alright and it blocks out ,for awhile, all the other voices in my head ".
My other experience as a young man with Aretha Franklin's music was through my first girl friend in college, Ramona. Mona I learned was not only a spitfire but also what I would later learn was called, 'a feminist'. Whenever, for instance, we would get into a quarrel she had the habit of putting on Ms. Franklin's ,'Respect' or 'Do Right Man'-Loud. So, I soon came to identify Aretha's music with not only strong willed (and sexy) women but with women who were self confident enough to know how to demand an equal part in a relationship. And strangely enough (for those times) I learned I preferred that arrangement in a relationship, and eventually would in fact marry a woman who had just those qualities. So thank you Ms Franklin for introducing me to not only soul music, but to strong willed women in my life.
29
Aretha Franklin is mourned in a way that today's pop stars never will be; her music was a cultural signifier and part of the soundtrack of a time of expanding democracy. It was about so much more than chart position or cash. She is just as much a hero of America as anyone whoever carried a gun to carry out this nation's foreign policy.
15
I am watching Ms. Franklin sing "Natural Woman" at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors- honoring Carole King- (www.youtube.com).
The cavernous hall has been transformed into an intimate room with thousands mesmerized by "a voice and a piano".
The royalty of her presence is undeniable.
By the end- there are tears and a standing ovation and a simple humble bow by Ms. Franklin:R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
4
Tears. We miss you so much more because we need you that much more.
9
Aretha was much smaller than her public image suggests.
Although the context is too complex and requires too much space, in the late 80's my wife and I attended a memorial service for a wonderful dancer, Clifford Fears, who had served as Aretha's choreographer. It was held in a small funeral home on Grand Avenue, near Motown headquarters with perhaps 150 in attendance.
In the middle of the service, there was sudden silence and then a collective gasp. Unannounced, alone, with no fanfare, Aretha stood at the rear of the center aisle in the nondescript hall. She was dressed modestly and walked slowly to the front of the room. With no introduction, no accompaniment, evidently no advance notice, she sang an a cappella spiritual in Clifford's memory. It was heart wrenching and among the most powerful musical moments I've ever experienced. She was small. Her voice and spirit were immeasurable.
Then, with no further ado, she walked with dignity to the rear of the building and disappeared into the bright afternoon. No words were ever spoken.
197
@Barking Doggerel
Beautiful.
Her story is all the more remarkable, given her early years, and subsequent struggles, including becoming a mother at 12. What a gift for us all that her spirit was as powerful as her voice and she persevered to reach the highest heights. Rest in Peace, Queen of Soul and thank you for sharing your gift.
22
I will never forget the summer I drove with my sister from FL to CO. We sang along with Aretha's entire "Greatest Hits" tape as we drove across Kansas. So grateful to this amazing woman and the spirit of freedom (and sass) in her music!
4
One of the differences between a good musician and a great musician is that the great ones are great when performing live. And this lady sure had it. I'm glad we have so much recorded to remember her by.
3
I first remember listening to Aretha when I was a Vista volunteer in a migrant farmworker community in rural Florida in 1967. While listening to "Respect" being played on the jukebox at a local juke joint, I remember the women present nodding to their menfolk about the truth in her lyric. Her Atlantic recordings changed the direction of R&B and all of pop music forever.
15
When Rolling Stone came out with its top rock and pop singers of all time, my music-savvy daughter wondered, "I wonder who's number one?" and I replied automatically, "Aretha Franklin."
She was momentarily impressed that I had it right, but really, WHO else could it have possibly been? Absolutely nobody.
Aretha was simply amazing and we're so fortunate as a culture to have had her ageless art so well recorded. Rest in Peace!
7
A legend. Unmatched and irreplaceable. Goodbye, Aretha.
4
We have lost another icon to pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor ( Steve Jobs). while less known of the pancreatic cancers it is related to a completely different set of cancers that can occur all over. The NET community mourns another loss to our community. We will work to show Aretha R E S P E C T and NETS NOrespect.
3
In this is fractious, fraught moment in the life of American's and people in many other countries, Aretha gives us an example of a life so well lived, and inspiration that we can keep close to us when we need it most. I have paused in my workaday to remember that. Thank you, Jon Pareles and team for the video.
7
God bless Aretha. I remember the great Lena Horne saying that she wished she could sing like Aretha. Is there a higher compliment?
6
The Queen of Soul helped me get through some very difficult points in my life and I hope her passing will help the country get through these very dark points.
The heavens are filled with music and Ms. Franklin will never be gone because she is in all of us if we dig deep enough. Her goodness, caring involvement in the Civil Rights movement for all, We will forever follow in her footsteps and try to live up to her expectations.
RESPECT
7
Such a voice. Such an incredible talent. An indelible part of the historical fabric of American music. We will miss you so very, very much...
3
last evening at a meeting I went to, we played Aretha's rendition of "A Change is Gonna Come" (written by Sam Cooke) in tribute to this remarkable talent. I'm weeping now because we will not see her like again. Teach the Angels a thing or two about singing, Lady Soul. Heaven will never be the same. Rest in Peace.
6
What a voice! Will miss this great lady of soul. She brought down the house with Carol King's "You make me feel like a natural woman" at the Kennedy Center Honors. But then again....she always brought down the house! A great American entertainer who sang with her wonderful voice and from her heart. Rest in peace Ms. Aretha.
4
At 57 years old, I have never lived in a world without the physical presence of Aretha Franklin. I was lucky enough to see her 20-some years ago at a Jazz Fest in Indianapolis and she was incredible. She is by far, one of the best voices that ever picked up a microphone. Thanks Aretha, for gracing us all with your presence. You are amazing!
5
Aretha Franklin's music is a singular, enduring gift to all of us, musicians and listeners alike. It's impossible to imagine the past 50 years without her remarkable voice and presence. My deepest condolences to her friends and family. She was greatness itself. May she rest in peace.
6
My Introduction to Music class utilized Aretha's "Amazing Grace" double album extensively to show vocal styles and voice control. I quickly went out a bought a copy of the record even though I was cash strapped struggling in my first year of college. I will never forget that learning experience, and over the years added more Aretha Franklin records to my collection.
6
ARETHA FRANKLIN did Detroit proud. My condolences to her family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AikdRRU3ow0
Song: Freeway of Love
I was fortunate to see Aretha Franklin perform at the Lincoln Memorial at a pre-inaugural concert in January 1993. Thank you, Lady Soul.
3
NY's classical music station WQXR just played her rendition of Nessun Dorma from the opera Turandot, it gave me chills.
Rest in Peace Aretha, you brought us some amazing and beautiful music.
5
Most mornings in my Kindergarten class, I'd start the day with a rousing taped version of Ain't No Mountain High Enough. What a delight to watch 20 5-year-olds dancing and singing with such abandonment to the Queen of Soul. May her music continue to have future generations share those same feelings of joy.
3
A much needed light has gone out in our world. Thank you, Aretha, for all your wonderful singing. May you rest in peace and may your family be comforted by the thoughts of millions who are grateful for all you gave us over the decades.
3
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
You’ll always be the Queen of Soul to me.
Rest peacefully and well, Ms. Franklin. You left your indelible mark on music AND history. My condolences to your family and those who love you.
3
Aretha is a national treasure. No other voice moves me like hers.
7
Goodbye to The Queen. Pure talent and soul. Rest In Peace.
7
For many of my generation, Aretha's voice was a bridge over troubled waters. May she rest in peace.
7
Aretha Franklin was a soaring talent, a great American, and an incomparable human being. The world is a far, far better place because of her.
6
I will never forget hearing Queen Aretha coming through the radio from KCRW Detroit singing "I Never Loved A Man . . . " I was 13 but I jumped up from my seat and turned the radio up. My mother usually disliked the current pop music but she too stopped what she was doing when she heard Aretha's soulful, soaring vocals. When the song ended we were both stunned by what we heard. My mother turned to me and said, "We're going to be hearing a lot from that lady." Indeed we did.
Thank you, Aretha, for the countless hours of musical pleasure you have given me and the world over. I know God is thrilled to have you close by.
34
@Tom O'Leary. I have similar story but it ends differently. I remember being in my family's car listening to the radio in the early 70s. I was a young girl (maybe I was 10) and Aretha Franklin came on the radio and I was transfixed. I said to my mother - this women's voice is amazing - my mother said she thought Aretha Franklin's voice was frightful. I knew from that day forward I would never trust my mother's taste in music.
8
As high school and college students in the 60's, I and my cohort were fortunate enough to be exposed to some of the best rock, R&B, soul, and folk music ever produced. Yet with all that talent vying our attention, Aretha was the queen at least for me and most of my friends. Her voice, earnest and always demanding attention, enthralled us. Her songs were engaging at every level. And boy was she fun to dance to!
But oh, that voice! Aretha, you will always be the queen of soul. While we miss you already, you live on in our hearts and soul.
3
You can rest easy now, Aretha. Your songs will forever be a significant part of the American playlist. And you taught us the power, strength grace & dignity in being an African American woman.
16
I grew up in the 70s listening to the Queen. She made me feel powerful, beautiful and seen. Respect. Rest in power
7
Whenever we rank the best rock and roll singers, Aretha Franklin is not even in the ranking. She is the absolute best--period. All others are in another league.
4
What a powerhouse and that incredible voice. Second to none. She was a gift to the world. May her music and message live on forever.
3
Aretha Franklin, an American Treasure, was one of the rare few whose rich voices gave wings to our emotions; and helped to make sense of our both every day, and complicated, lives and loves.
RIP, Dear Queen
9
Aretha's music defined my early adulthood. She was an emotional inspiration. And how great it was to dance to it!!! This is a sad day but her legacy will live forever. Rest in peace lovely lady.
3
We have lost a wonderful talented woman and your coverage of her life was is exemplary! Thank you!!
7
I will miss her. I grew up with her. At least I have her voice. She will always be The Queen of Soul.
8
Good-bye, Ms. Franklin.
Your music and your spirit have impacted so many of us and will continue to do so for generations to come. We will remember you.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
6
This is so sad. My Sunday morning ritual is coffee, the New York Times and playing Aretha's Greatest Hits. Rock Steady is my favorite. You were a lovely lady and will be greatly missed but I will think of you every Sunday.
5
God bless you, Aretha. You were a light in this world.
8
Aretha Franklin's voice had wings that took flight every time she sang. Aretha passed away, but her greatness lives on. Grateful for the gift of Aretha Franklin.
6
There will never be a voice like hers.
I feel as though I've lost a loved one.
6
I feel a great loss with Aretha gone, the QUEEN OF SOUL will rein until the end of music.
1
Part of my life has slipped away. I pray for the repose of her soul. May God grant her family peace.
6
I loved her from the moment I heard " You make me feel like a natural woman".
The Queen of Soul will live forever thanks to her music.
8
The world seems so much quieter right now -- in a bad way.
41
Hot tears now. Your SOUL is woven into the fabric of my entire being and shake the earth of HEAVEN when you touch the stars.
Kiss your soul sister Simone for me, Aretha. Both of you were the greatest in my lifetime.
Thanks for all the joy. AMAZING GRACE.
6
The combination of soul, power, and musicality -- nobody did it better!
13
I was riding in my car when I heard that Aretha was gravely ill. I started singing Say little pray for you and just cried. I am blessed that she filled my life with so much joy for the past 50 years. Thank you Queen of Soul! I can only imagine the jam session going on in heaven. Rest in peace my great Queen!
17
My favorite Aretha song (at the moment, because it changes periodically over the years, and always will) is "Good To Me As I Am To You" with a soulful guitar accompaniment by Eric Clapton.
All she's asking is to get as good as she gives to her man, something we all want and have the right to expect. I believe it was something she never stopped looking for. I hope she found it. What I know she did find was my heart, and it will be forever grateful for the beauty she brought into this world.
6
@Hal
That was one of the most amazing songs she ever recorded! Thank you for calling it out and the sweet licks of Clapton himself, too.
1
I grew up in the Bronx. Somehow everyone just knew the moment that Aretha opened her mouth that she was a phenomenon that could never be duplicated. I can still remember the Spring of 1967 and countless transistor radios blaring "Respect" from the open windows of our tenement building. Rock and Roll heaven has her now. I wish her eternal peace. I'm grateful for what she has given us all. I am sure it will live for a thousand years.
279
I remember that electric moment too. That was the first 45 I ever bought to play on my portable record player. Even at 11 my female self esteem was boosted by Respect.
I will miss her constant quality.
Moving in and out of the pop market is a comment on the pop market, not her. It bedevils some other top quality performers too. Would that her experience sparked re-exam of that.
4